Gilas Pilipinas' Jayson Castro in action against Kuwait Friday. Castro is the Philippines' leading scoring threat with an average of 15.7 points per game, with a 53.8 percent three-point shooting percentage. Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette
MANILA — After the first round of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship, Iran remains as the team to beat with a tournament-best 98.7 points per game (PPG), blasting their opponents by an average of 47 points to stay firmly entrenched as the No. 1 team in Asia in the latest FIBA power ranking. However, the Philippines' Gilas Pilipinas squad, despite its shocking upset loss to Palestine in the opener, is considered as the second most efficient team in the tournament just behind Iran in PPG, with 94.7-point clip. Gilas also limited their three Group B opponents — Palestine, Hong Kong and Kuwait — to an average of just 63 points a game. The Filipinos also lead the tournament in free throw attempts per game (25.7) but only converted 64.9 percent of their shots to place eighth in free-throw shooting. Gilas is sixth in field goal accuracy, with a 45.1 percent field goal shooting average. The Filipinos are also sixth in three-point shooting percentage, with a 37.5 percent shooting average from beyond the arc. But they are way behind the Koreans, the No. 1 three-point shooting team, with 49.2 percent clip, and Lebanon, the second best three-point shooting team with a 42.3 percent average. Jayson Castro — known in the tournament as Jayson William — leads all Gilas scorers with 15.7 PPG, with an impressive 53.8 percent three-point shooting average. Naturalized player Andray Blatche remains a question mark for Gilas though as he still has to show his true potentials. The former NBA star averages 15.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists after three games. Aside from Castro, new Gilas boys Terrence Romeo, Calvin Abueva and JC Intal are making their mark in the 2016 Rio Olympics qualifier. Romeo is the third top scorer for Gilas after Castro and Blatche with 13.7 PPG. Abueva is second in rebounding (7.3 RPG) and has done wonders with his unquantifiable hustle and gritty plays leading to Gilas' enhanced efficiency on both ends of the court. Intal's 7 PPG provides instant scoring off the bench. Veteran Dondon Hontiveros is also one of Gilas' reliable weapons with 50 percent accuracy from beyond the arc. He is the team's next best three-point shooter after Castro. Ranidel de Ocampo is also playing solidly for Gilas (8.3 PPG and 6 RPG, with .526 field goal shooting average). Gabe Norwood is not contributing much offensively but has been effective in defense, with coach Tab Baldwin keeping him in the starting five and assigning him to guard the opposing team's best scorer. Despite limited playing time, Asi Taulava, the oldest player in the tournament at 42, is providing the strength in the paint, averaging 5.7 rebounds per game. Sonny Thoss is also doing his share, averaging 5 points and 4 rebounds per game. The top 4 teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals. Wins and losses from eliminated teams are discarded from the record in the second round. Here is the schedule of second round matches Sunday: Group E: Iran vs. Hong Kong, Palestine vs. India, Japan vs. Philippines. Group F: Korea vs. Lebanon, China vs. Kazakhstan, Qatar vs. Jordan.
