By REYNALD MAGALLON
Down but not out.
Gilas Pilipinas’ bid in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup may have met a disastrous start after losing to the lower-ranked Chinese Taipei but the Nationals are not easily giving up on its dream of winning it all.
A short-term memory should be beneficial for the Filipinos as they need to quickly lick their wounds and pick themselves up when they take on a more formidable foe in New Zealand on Thursday, Aug. 7 (Manila time) at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Gilas head coach Tim Cone preached that the Nationals can certainly feel bad about themselves after the 95-87 loss to Chinese Taipei but they need to make sure that they do not stay crying over spilled milk ahead of the 11 p.m. clash against the Tall Blacks.
“There’s only one thing we can do at this point and that is to move on,” said Cone following the shock loss that saw Gilas dig itself into an early 17-point hole and never really recovered from there.
“We can feel bad about this one as much as we want. We can cry about it even but the bottomline is we got New Zealand coming up in two days and we got to get ready for them,” he stressed.
Another flat start, however, is what Gilas cannot afford to have this time, not against the Tall Blacks, who were ranked way higher than Chinese Taipei at No. 22 in the FIBA world rankings.
Like Chinese Taipei, New Zealand also defeated Gilas, 87-70, in its last meeting in the last window of the Asia Cup qualifiers. The Tall Blacks have also won five of their last six meetings although Gilas lone win came just last year when it pulled off a 93-89 win at home.
Things, however, are different this time as aside from missing the services of Kai Sotto for Gilas, New Zealand is also coming off a 100-78 victory over Iraq.
But Cone remained unfazed, knowing full well that his team has the capabilities to bounce back from a tough loss.
“This team has shown a lot of bounce back in the past and I think we have a really, really good chance of playing a better game next time out,” said the veteran mentor.
To do that, Justin Brownlee must perform more than his 19-point showing against Chinese Taipei. More importantly, he also needs to avoid getting into foul trouble to not limit his efficiency on the floor.
The team also needs to take better care of the basketball after committing 16 turnovers against the Taiwanese.
For the part of New Zealand, Taylor Britt and Mojave King are expected to lead the crew following their strong performances against Iraq. Britt finished with 21 points to go with six rebounds and six assists while King chipped in 18.
