NT Press Release: Pilipinas dumps Azerbaijan, 132-50
Balanced attack led to rout
Team Pilipinas took advantage of a clearly outmatched Azerbaijan squad, beating the Azeris 132-50 at the Philippine Arena.
“Let me be clear, I am not Thanos. I have no concern with balance at all. My boys play to win, even if that means winning by as much 50 points. The goal is to win the championship, and that is what I intend to do,” Coach Lord Woody said during the post-game press conference. There are rumors that the Azerbaijan Ministry of Internal Affairs will issue a persona non-grata order to Lord Woody for crimes against humanity.
It was a disastrous outing for the Azeris, who ended the game with a 19.8% field goal clip, including an atrocious 11.5% clip from behind the arc. “We could not guard them (Azerbaijan) when they take their free throws, I wanted to win big today,” leading scorer Paul Emery said after being handed the game ball. He finished the contest with an all-around stat line of 24 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, and 1 block in 25 minutes. The Filipinos clearly upended Azerbaijan in almost all categories, with the exception of free throw shooting - Azerbaijan shot a perfect 11 of 11 from the line. Big man Cəmil Babayev led the Azeris with a double-double, finishing the game with 15 points and 11 rebounds in 39 minutes of action.
Team Pilpinas is scheduled to make preparations for their next opponent, 40th ranked Bulgaria. The Azeris, on the other hand, hope to get their first win against 67th ranked Scotland.