The Meralco Bolts coaching staff all know how valuable Chris Newsome is to the team after he gave them their first-ever PBA championship. Now, even Gilas coach Tim Cone sees his potential after sinking the three pointerin the final 69 seconds that helped them clinch a breakthrough win, 93-89, against world No. 22 New Zealand in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
Overall, Newsome finished with 11 points, four rebounds, and three assists off the bench in the Philippines’ third straight win in the qualifiers for the provisional lead in Group B.
The long-time face of the Meralco franchise was also tasked to slow down New Zealand team captain Corey Webster in an undertaking that had got him in foul trouble.
"Despite the four fouls, he came back. Despite the four fouls, he was able to defend without fouling the rest of the way. So that’s amazing. That’s a luxury to have a guy like that coming off the bench," said Cone of the 34-year-old Fil-Am guard.
The Gilas coach lauded Newsome for sparking Gilas’ comeback after a slow start.
A starter during the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Latvia, Newsome was kept on the bench by Cone as he let Scottie Thompson play as part of the starting unit.
Apparently, Newsome and Cone talked to each other about how the former Ateneo standout will play out his defensive assignment against Webster and the rest of Gilas against the Tall Blacks.
"It was his job to sit on the bench for the first few minutes, check out these guys and figure out how he will play him (Webster). He came out and played these guys really well," said the Gilas coach.
"I thought he was the one that really got us going defensively after our slow start."
And then Newsome contributed offensively when Gilas needed it most, hitting a huge three point shot with 1:09 remaining to give the host a 91-84 lead.
The basket of course, was reminiscent of Newsome’s huge fadeaway shot against Don Trollano with 1.3 seconds to go in Game 6 that clinched for Meralco its firstpever PBA championship during the Philippine Cup Finals against San Miguel.
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