Justin Brownlee (No. 32) has been consistent for Gilas, whose back is against the wall heading into match with Iraq.—FIBA.COM PHOTO .
Dropping the first two games of the Fiba Asia Cup surely comes at a cost, and Gilas Pilipinas will have to go through the wringer in order to go on a deep run in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Gilas goes into Saturday’s 4 p.m. (Philippine time) contest with Iraq at King Abdullah Sports City with a sense of desperation after its comeback attempts fell short against Chinese-Taipei on Wednesday and then New Zealand on Thursday night, when the Kiwis handed the Philippines a 94-86 defeat.
“The tournament’s not over us,” embattled national team coach Tim Cone said, referring to the task of beating the Iraqis to be able to enter qualification for a spot in the quarterfinals. The flip side of that is taking a shock loss, which will shove the Filipinos to the exits.
Gilas, though, is expected to win, and in doing that, will finish third in Group D at 1-2 and will take on the second-place team from Group C, which could possibly be Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia emerged as a potential Gilas foe after taking down Jordan, 77-73, that put both teams in a tie for second at 1-1. China leads the group at 2-0.
And if the Philippines does end up getting a win in qualification, the going will get even tougher with the quarterfinal opponent being the top team from Group A, which could potentially be Australia, the winner of the 2017 and 2022 editions, or Lebanon.
“We just have to keep our heads up going forward and don’t sink in these last two losses. We can’t afford that,” Cone said. “There’s still more to do, and we’re gonna have to be ready for our next game.”
Being ready would perhaps mean avoiding another situation of having to play catch-up yet again.
Against New Zealand, Gilas fell behind by 18 points and spent the whole second half trying to mount a comeback. The Filipinos, led by Justin Brownlee and Dwight Ramos, almost did.
Brownlee torched the Kiwis with 37 points, including a three-pointer that pulled Gilas to within three, 85-82, with 3:52 left, as Gilas had momentum on its side that sent a predominantly Filipino crowd going bananas.
But New Zealand got the big baskets courtesy of heady guard Taylor Britt, even as Gilas succumbed to turnovers and defensive lapses that compounded matters.
“I thought we played better in the second half, but we weren’t able to get over the hump,” Cone lamented. “We [made] a couple of turnovers down the stretch that prevented us from really making the game tight.”
Ramos had 19 points, four rebounds and two steals while Scottie Thompson and AJ Edu also contributed in the comeback try with their defense and rebounding. Their efforts, however, failed to net a victory.
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June Mar Fajardo’s 11 points and four rebounds atoned for the disappointing showing against Chinese-Taipei, and if that’s a silver lining, then Gilas hopes to see at least the same with the team on the brink.