The Filipinos definitely made heads flip in Latvia. — PHOTOS FROM FIBA.COM
Gilas Pilipinas could have misplaced its all-important match in opposition to Brazil within the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Match (OQT) in Latvia on Saturday, however the Nationwide 5, nonetheless, can now boast of one thing Philippine basketball wasn’t in a position to converse of for many years.
After a masterful conquest of world No. 6 Latvia on its residence turf and a pair of plucky stands in opposition to the Georgian and Brazilian nationwide sides backstopped by NBA-caliber expertise, Gilas Pilipinas—years written off as a doormat on the worldwide stage—proved that it belongs.
“It’s, kinda like a ‘now we all know’ second—[that] ‘Now, we all know we are able to compete,’” nationwide coach Tim Cone stated on Saturday evening, shortly after the 71-60 loss to the world No. 12 Cariocas who dashed Gilas’ desires of returning to the Olympic Video games in Paris.
Cone—just like the tens of millions following Gilas’ bid at residence—would’ve needed his crew to maintain writing their inconceivable shock story in Riga. However the Nationals had only a few solutions for the bodily play of the enemy who additionally rediscovered their offensive groove simply when the Filipinos misplaced theirs.
“They performed us with an actual bodily model of basketball,” he stated of the South American powerhouse that superior to face the Latvians within the finale on Sunday evening.
“We had been making powerful pictures within the first half they usually had been lacking a number of open pictures. We knew that if we didn’t flip that round, it was going to get troublesome for us within the second half,” Cone went on. “And we continued to [take] powerful pictures they usually weren’t getting into anymore. After which they began hitting open pictures.
“I feel we simply form of panicked somewhat bit. We began doing a number of one-on-one, we weren’t shifting the ball like we usually do. We simply didn’t carry our greatest.”
Leaving a mark
The botched marketing campaign will sting for some time for Gilas, however there isn’t any denying the inevitable mark left by the squad led by Justin Brownlee, June Mar Fajardo, Dwight Ramos, and Chris Newsome.
“In fact, we wish to get to the Olympics. It was the last word aim,” Newsome stated. “However once more, that is one other stepping stone for us as a program to attempt to enhance and proceed to get higher. You already know, there’s a number of positives you could take away from this journey, from this event.”
“[I’m] undoubtedly not completely happy,” stated Brownlee. “[I’m] grateful for the chance, although. It’s been an honor to return right here, to this nation, and be capable to showcase Filipino basketball and I wish to thank Latvia for that.”
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Al Panlilio, who was with the contingent all through the event, was amongst these ecstatic to see how Cone’s intrepid fees fared in its first two outings. Expectedly, he was simply as devastated to see the run finish on Saturday.
However Panlilio, who is aware of a factor or two about preventing by way of adversity having conquered most cancers himself, is aware of that Gilas’ newest setback may very nicely be a fortuitous setup for a comeback.
“Like in something—like in life and the company world—you study from adversity and hopefully come out stronger and higher shifting ahead,” he advised the Inquirer.
“We understood the aim and set our sights on it—making the Paris Olympics if we are able to. [The] long term is to compete within the Fiba Asia Cup, come out as the highest staff, qualify for the World Cup in 2027, and be the very best Asian staff that additionally qualifies us to [the Los Angeles] Olympics.
“It’s a long-term plan we have now launched into. However every event is a constructing block to the subsequent,” he added. INQ
