Nokia RP U-18 in ‘quarters’

SANA’A, Yemen--The Nokia RP U-18 team battles Chinese-Taipei in the
knockout quarterfinals of the Fiba-Asia U-18 Championship on Wednesday
at the 22nd May Gym here.
The Filipinos, backed by  Nokia Philippines and TAO Corporation,
formalized their entry in the eight-team round by besting Iraq, 68-59,
on Monday to close out the second round with a 3-2 mark behind China’s
5-0 record. Joining them in the next round are groupmates Yemen (3-2)
and Japan (3-2).
China will be up against Lebanon, Japan against Korea and Yemen
against Iran in the round that will determine the semifinalists. The
RP-Chinese Taipei game is set at 6 pm (Manila time).
Head coach Eric Altamirano said that his team needs to play more
consistently, needing to come back from two stinging loses to China
and Yemen. Chinese-Taipei plays a lot like the Philippines so the
consistency factor is again the main focus.
“I think the key at this level is to play consistently. There is no
point in playing well one day and going down the next,” he said.
“Chinese-Taipei is almost the same size as our team although they have
taller players. We will take advantage of our rest day today (Tuesday)
as we aim to go out strong tomorrow,”said Altamirano, who said that
the team needs two wins to make to the finals.
Altamirano is aiming for bigger things as the Philippines last placed
eighth in this tournament in 2008.
“Our initial target was to reach the quarterfinals. But that was not
as important from the exposure point of view as that of the results,”
he said.“This is what the boys have to understand and play. We have
been focusing on stressing upon this factor at every training
session,” he said.
Altamirano adds: “We came here looking for consolidating on what
gained in Johor and for continuity of the National development
program. We also expected tougher competition in terms of playing
taller, stronger and more mature teams.”
In the game against Iraq, Kiefer Ravena topscored with 23 points and
four assists followed by Mike Tolomia’s eight.
The tournament dangles three tickets to the 2011 FIBA U19 World
Championship to be played in Latvia next year.(pr)