Alexandr Zhigulin won’t forget the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship that was held at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. Then at a young age of 19, the 6-foot-8 stretch big man was already part of the Kazakhstan national team.
“I remember five years ago… I liked the organization, I liked the level,” Zhigulin, now 24, recalled. “The Philippines, I like this country … and everybody is … everybody helped us.
“People are always smiling, always want to help.”
And he won’t forget that in that tournament, he and the Kazakhs were dealt a 58-88 blowout by eventual silver medalists Gilas Pilipinas – a game where Gary David exploded for 22 points after shooting sourly in the past games.
Since 2013, Zhigulin has become a mainstay of the national team; he appeared in the 2015 and 2017 editions of the continental meet. And he was also a member of the Kazakhstan team that saw action in the 2018 Asian Games.
In the Asiad last August, Zhigulin and his team suffered another disappointment at the hands of the Philippines, who sent a hastily-formed team to the contest. Kazakhstan received a harsh 59-96 beatdown.
After the Jakarta Games, Kazakhstan shifted its focus again to the 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. And come the fifth window on November, the Kazakhs found themselves crossing paths anew with their tormentors.
Photo from FIBA.basketball
But Zhigulin did not let history repeat itself.
On Friday night, at the very same venue in Pasay, Zhigulin asserted himself on offense. He erupted for 30 points – spiked by six three-pointers – along with seven rebounds and two assists, to power Kazakhstan to a stunning 92-88 victory.
Zhigulin made it clear that he wasn’t out there with some personal vendetta, though. He asserted that he simply wanted to help his team bag the win, since Kazakhstan was in a precarious spot at 3-5 prior to meeting the Filipino dribblers.
“For me, yes, I have motivation because I want to play every game good. I want to help my national team, and every game is important. Every game we have, like – we need to show something because we need to win,” said Zhigulin, who was averaging 6.9 points prior to this game.
“I’m happy with the win tonight, I’m happy with what I scored, I’m happy to help the team to win.”
But even if he played a crucial factor in the Kazakhs’ victory, Zhigulin did not take all the spotlight to himself. He deflected credit to the whole team for showing character when things got tough for their side.
Gilas gave a major scare with 26 seconds left to play by knocking within just a field goal, as Marcio Lassiter sank a corner triple. But Antom Bykov’s under-basket stab off a Rustam Yergali pocket pass served as the dagger.
“So yeah today, I feel lucky because I scored three-point shots, some two-shots. But this is everything … because we played good with all team, because guys show character, showed good basketball,” said Zhigulin.
“Everybody did a good job.”
