Philippines Smart Gilas wins over Lebanon, hammers Uzbekistan in FIBA ASIA CUP

After a heart-breaking loss to China in the opener, Smart-Gilas Pilipinas national team won against Lebanon, 78-68 for its first win in the FIBA Asia Cup in Tokyo, Japan. Naturalized player Marcus Douthit hit 25 points and grabbed 21 rebounds to lead the Philippines' onslaught against powerhouse Lebanese squad. Lebanon was ahead at the end of the first quarter, 20-19. The lead increased to 41-38 at halftime. Gilas Pilipinas outscored Lebanon 21-12 in the pivotal third quarter and grabbed the front seat, 59-53.

Douthit showed dominance in the offensive by scoring second chance points from teammates' misses in the third period, scoring 8 of his 10 points in the quarter on follow ups. He sank a pair of free throws with 23 seconds remaining in the third period, gave the Philippines a six-point lead, the biggest in either team at that time.

In the fourth quarter, Douthit kept the Philippines' hopes alive connecting inside the paint to pilot Gilas ahead 70-61, with 3:29 remaining in the game. Gary David sank a crucial basket for a comfortable 72-66 margin 2:05 remaining. Another David score with 24 seconds remaining gave the assurance for the Philippines' victory. The triumph was sealed by two free throws by LA Tenorio with 14 seconds to go and a drive by Jared Dillinger 3 seconds into the end game. David and Tenorio contributed 11 points each while Dillinger had 10 for the Gilas Pilipinas win.

Fadi Khatib had 24 points and 15 rebounds while Garnett Thompson contributed 17 points and 11 rebounds for Lebanon, the defending champions of the tournament. Lebanon was the only team who defeated the Philippines during the recent 34th Jones Cup title run.

Philippines and Lebanon now tied at 1-1, while China and Uzbekistan led Group A with 1-0. Macau is at the tail end with 2-0. Philippines and Uzbekistan will face each other on Sunday.

The Smart-Gilas Pilipinas almost made it against the much taller Chinese team, but succumbed to poor shooting and lost, 71-68, in the opening game. The younger China players just averaged 20 years of age, but their height average is 6-foot-8 as against the Filipinos' 6-foot-4.

The Smart-Gilas team was formed in just less than a month and had not practiced solidly because of the conflicts of the players' practices with their mother teams in the PBA.

The FIBA Asia Cup was played since 2004, then 2008 and 2010. Qatar was champion in 2004 in Taipei, Jordan won the title in 2008 in Kuwait, while Lebanon won the crown in Beirut in 2010. The Philippines placed fourth in 2010 when they were defeated by Qatar for the bronze medal.

Smart Gilas hammers Uzbekistan

Smart Gilas Pilipinas, inspired by its 78-68 conquest of Lebanon Saturday, tore to shreds the lowly Uzbekistan side, 85-50, and secured a spot in the knockout stage of the fourth FIBA Asia Cup at the Ota Gymnasium here Sunday.

With a quarterfinal berth sealed, the Nationals go for a better seeding in the playoffs as they take on another unheralded rival in Macau, their last assignment in group matches, at 11:30 a.m. today.

The Filipinos completely dominated the Uzbeks whom they held scoreless for almost 10 minutes in one stretch in the match cheered on by the predominantly Filipino crowd at the spanking modern playing venue.

Smart Gilas ripped the game open, 37-16, on a swashbuckling 17-to-nothing run and the Nationals went through the motion of completing the victory that sent them to the next stage probably against Qatar or Chinese Taipei.

The easy match allowed coach Chot Reyes the luxury to rest his main players and experiment new combinations and some defensive ploys.

"The challenge was for the players not to develop bad habits in this game. What we wanted was to improve our good habits on defense," said Reyes.

Having scouted the Uzbeks as a mere five-deep team, Gilas starters Marcus Douthit, LA Tenorio, Ranidel de Ocampo, Jeff Chan and Gabe Norwood wore them down early with a pressing defense and an up-tempo attack.

The Uzbeks seemed to have been exhausted by the time Reyes fielded his second team on a platoon substitution.

Larry Fonacier, Jarred Dillinger, Matt Ganuelas, Sonny Thoss and JayR Reyes kept the pressure, and the Nationals broke away in the second quarter, never to look back again.

The Uzbeks hardly had anything to offer in the final half which the Smart Gilas reserves turned into a first hand demonstration of their individual talents.

The Filipino crowd and the Gilas bench specifically cheered on Ganuelas as the 22-year-old Fil-Am guard put up highlight plays, including a two-handed jam, an acrobatic layup and an authoritative block of an Uzbek shot.

Ganuelas grabbed 11 rebounds, scored eight points, issued four assists and took three steals in 17 minutes of action – his longest exposure in a game from their Jones Cup title run.

Reyes, Thoss and Rico Villanueva also played long minutes and they collected good numbers although Chan still emerged the top scorer with 20 points on 8-of-15 field shooting.

Struggling with 1-of-9 three-point shooting in the first two games, Chan finally found his touch, converting four of seven attempts.

The whole team hit at a 40-percent clip (8-of-20) after shooting just 20 percent (4-of-20) in the first game versus China and 17 percent (6-of-35) in the next game versus Lebanon.

"We played the defense that we're practicing but we tried to hide some of our offensive plays," said Reyes who intended to do the same against Macau.

"We'll again rest our core players but we'll work hard in practice in the evening. We'll be off Tuesday and return to practice Wednesday in preparation for the quarters," Reyes also said.

Douthit played only 14:32 against Uzbekistan, getting nine points, four rebounds, one assist and one block against four turnovers.

Philboxing.com & philSTAR

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300 Japanese Manufacturing firms in China keen on relocating businesses to the Philippines

Some 300 Japanese manufacturing companies operating in China and Japan have expressed interest to relocate their businesses in the Philippines in the next five years.

Takashi Ishigami, president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines Inc., said that some of the firms had already started moving their operations here last year, viewing the Philippines as a very competitive country. "We have now many inquiries from Japanese firms. There are already 1,700 Japanese companies located here. And we will have more; it can increase by 200 to 300 easily," he said.

Ishigami said on the sidelines of the Joint Foreign Chamber Networking Night that most of the companies were engaged in information technology while some others in automotive parts manufacturing.      Ishigami did not divulge any planned investment details, but noted "it's a big number. It depends on the companies."

He said more Japanese companies were establishing their business presence here, owing to Philippine investment and tax incentives given to foreign investors. "The Philippines has very good investment program and tax incentives for foreign companies particularly those offered by PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority) and BOI (Board of Investments)," he said. "These are giving the Japanese firms opportunities to expand their business."

Ishigami said China's rising wages also prompted some firms to move their production here.

He also cited other competitive advantages of the Philippines, including its well educated English-speaking workforce and good quality infrastructure.

"The business environment here is getting better. At first, only few Japanese companies had interest but now, many of them have interest to invest in the Philippines," he said.*PNA

The Visayan Daily Star

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₱41.49 -USD Rise again 4.5 year high – Affects OFW remittances and Exports

Strong Peso may dent OFW remittance and Philippine exports, growth

The export sector is likely to take a hit again if the Philippine Peso continues to strengthen, analysts said.

The Philippine peso has been trading at a four year high for the past few days, with the local currency opening Thursday at 41.49 Pesos vs. the USD. Analysts note that this will reduce the competitiveness of Philippine exports, denting the country's growth.

"The effect of a strong peso on growth is negative," Benjamin Diokno, economics professor at the University of the Philippines, said .

Professor Diokno said the a "strong rebound" for the export sector is unlikely owing to continuing weakness of the global economy and the unabated strengthening of the local currency.

Reports that the US Federal Reserve would implement a 3rd round of Big Stimulus, to support the US economy, has bolstered confidence in emerging economies. This is because investors expect that supporting US growth will spill over to developing economies. The strong peso movement in fact tracks the performance of other Asian currencies.

Jonathan Ravelas, market strategist for Banco de Oro, said that news on the US stimulus will continue to push the USD lower, and the Peso to test the 41-41.25 range.

The export sector, which accounts for 40% of the Philippine gross domestic product, is forecast to grow 10% this year. This is a turnaround from last year's weakness, with export revenues falling by as much as 27.4% in September 2011, a 2 yr low. Exports were cited as one of the factors that slowed last year's GDP to 3.6%.

Initial data showed the export sector may be on the up-trend. Cumulative merchandise exports for the first seven months rose 7.7% on year to US$31.56-B.

But that may not continue for the rest of the year if the Peso continues to rise.

"The strong Peso will make exports expensive and imports cheap. This can drain foreign reserves and worsen balance of trade," Cid Terosa, economist at the University of Asia and the Pacific.

Terosa added this is further aggravated by the decline in the export of electronic products — the country's top export earner — owing to a global slowdown.

The National Statistics Office said electronics export revenues have been declining since April. In July alone, export revenues from electronics decreased by 11.2% as compared with the prior month.

"It could be difficult to achieve export growth target this year if electronics exports continue to fall," Mr. Terosa said.

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