Hoping for a return to the semifinals for the first time since 2009, Lebanon Thursday face 2013 runners-up Philippines in the quarterfinal stage of the FIBA ASIA Championship. The sides have met once before in the Asian Championship 16 years ago in Fukuoka, Japan, when Lebanon won 60-50 in the preliminary round. But Thursday’s clash comes in the knockout stage, and only one of the two teams will advance to the last four.
Lebanon enter the game as underdogs, having finished the round robin in fourth place in Group F, while the Philippines ended up in first place in Group E after pulling off a big upset by defeating defending Champions Iran.
However, the gritty Cedars have showed a great capacity to challenge all-comers in the tournament, despite fielding an inexperienced squad which has exceeded expectations thus far. “We are underdogs 100 percent but that’s the best position when you’re out. Everybody likes it. No pressure. You just have to play,” Lebanon head coach Veselin Matic said.
And the Serbian head coach was confident that Lebanon could contain a Philippines side led by former NBA player Andray Blatche.
“We don’t care too much. He’s a very good player. I’m very surprised he’s not in the NBA. His quality is of a tough, tough NBA player. But he’s now a little bit out of shape. I have scouted him from the FIBA World Championship,” Matic said. “This is a good matchup.”
“We did our job to be No. 8. Now it’s game by game. We came here to play game by game,” he added.
Lebanon have showed great offensive character in China as they rank fourth in scoring with 84.3 points, but their lack of experience has appeared on several occasions when they let big leads slip against South Korea, Qatar and Jordan. Fortunately, they managed to beat the latter by four points, while losing to Korea and Qatar after leading at halftime.
The Cedars will have to maintain their consistency for large parts of the game if they are to beat their opponents, who are on a good run since losing to Palestine on the opening day of the tournament.
They are led by former Lebanon coach Tab Baldwin and are a side who like to run in the open floor with athletic players who can score from all corners of the floor. Their main offensive threats are Jayson Castro and Blatche, while 23-year-old Terrence Romeo has also been impressive off the bench.
Lebanon will need to be physical, force the Filipino players to take forced shots and avoid letting Blatche find his rhythm. It’s a good matchup between both teams, with an edge for Lebanon in the backcourt and a slight edge for Philippines in the front court through the presence of the former Brooklyn Nets player, Blatche.
The winner of the match will have the easiest possible tie in the semifinals, as they will face the victors from the Qatar and Japan matchup.
Iran will battle out against South Korea in another thriller, and the winner will likely face China who face an easy task against India.
