Justin Brownlee (n ° 32) was consistent for Gilas, whose back is against the wall before the match with Iraq. – Fiba.com photo.
The collapse of the first two games of the FIBA Asia Cup certainly has a cost, and Gilas Pilipinas will have to go through the spinner in order to start in depth in Djeddah, in Saudi Arabia.
Gilas enters the 4-hour (Philippine Time) competition on Saturday with Iraq at King Abdullah Sports City with a feeling of despair after her return attempts failed against Chinese-Taipei on Wednesday, then New Zealand on Thursday evening, when the Kiwis gave the Philippines a 94-86 defeat.
“The tournament is not above us,” said the coach of the besieged national team, Tim Cone, referring to the task of beating the Iraqis to be able to qualify for a place in the quarterfinals. The reverse of the medal is to take a shock loss, which will push the Philippins to the outings.
Gilas, however, should win and, in doing so, will finish the third in group D at 1-2 and will face the group’s second place team, which could be Saudi.
Saudi Arabia emerged as a potential enemy of Gilas after having killed Jordan, 77-73, which put the two teams in second row at 1-1. China leads the group to 2-0.
And if the Philippines eventually obtain a qualification victory, the course will become even more difficult, the opponent in the quarterfinals being the best team of group A, which could potentially be Australia, the winner of 2017 and 2022 editions, or Lebanon.
“We just have to continue the head in the future and not flow into these last two defeats. We cannot afford it,” said CONE. “There is even more to do, and we will have to be ready for our next match.”
Being ready might mean avoiding another situation of duty to catch up again.
Against New Zealand, Gilas lagged behind by 18 points and spent the second half trying to set up a return. The Philippins, led by Justin Brownlee and Dwight Ramos, almost did it.
Brownlee burnt down the Kiwis with 37 points, including a three-point pointer who pulled Gilas at three, 85-82, with 3:52 on the left, because Gilas had ignition on his side which sent a Filipin’s predominance crowd going from bananas.
But New Zealand has obtained the large baskets graceful of goalkeeper Taylor Britt, even if Gilas died of turnover and defensive towers that have aggravated things.
“I thought we had played better in the second half, but we could not overcome the bump,” said Cone. “We have (made) some reversals on the section that prevented us from really tightening the game.”
Ramos collected 19 points, four rebounds and two interceptions while Scottie Thompson and AJ Edu also contributed to the return test with their defense and their rebound. Their efforts, however, failed to win a victory.
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The 11 points and four rebounds of June Mar Fajardo expired for the disappointing demonstration against Chinese-Taipei, and if it is a silver lining, Gilas hopes to see at least the same thing with the team by the edge.
