By REYNALD MAGALLON
Gilas Pilipinas is hoping to ride the momentum of its lone win in the group stage when it locks horns with host Saudi Arabia for a spot in the Top 8 of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Tuesday, Aug. 12.
The Nationals finally broke out of their slump after slipping past Iraq, 66-57, in a contest that seemed to have given Gilas the formula on how to keep winning in the continental tiff.
Game time is set at 12 a.m. with the Filipinos looking to replicate what worked for them in the victory while also continuously improving their weak points against the hosts.
“I really believe that this is the kind of game we kind of envisioned we would play where it’s a little bit more low scoring,” said Cone whose team, after giving up over 90 points against Chinese Taipei and New Zealand, limited Iraq to below 60 output.
Sure, both the Taiwanese and the Kiwis are far more superior offensive teams than Iraqis but how the Filipinos grinded out the game could be the blueprint for them to go deep in the tournament.
“We’re battling for every possession. Every basket is important or crucial. And I thought that’s what we did tonight. And that’s what we’re going to expect from ourselves going forward,” he added.
Of course, the execution on the offensive end still has a lot to fine tune for Gilas and Cone believes he needs more contributions from the locals if they wish to go on to the next round where a clash against Australia awaits.
Dwight Ramos did just that when he picked up the scoring cudgels with Justin Brownlee immediately getting doubled the moment he touched the leather.
“He’s such a tremendous player. It’s easy to sit there and watch him play. And I mean, from a teammate standpoint, we’re all standing around watching him play because he’s incredible,” Cone said of Gilas dependence on Brownlee.
“We’ve been talking about it. We have to use Justin not just to be a scorer for us, but we can play off of him because he does draw so much attention,” added the veteran coach.
Ramos made the most of the opportunity and finished with 21 points – something Cone hopes to see in other players like June Mar Fajardo, Scottie Thompson, CJ Perez and Calvin Oftana.
For one, Saudi Arabia isn’t a pushover especially after coming out the second best team from Group C that also included China and Jordan.
The Saudis pulled off a stunning 77-73 win over Jordan and took down India, 84-59. It only lost by five points against China, 93-88.
The Green Falcons are led by Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman who is third in scoring in the tournament with an average of 23.7 points including a 35-point explosion against China. The 6-foot-9 center Mohammed Alsuwailem is also averaging a double-double of 14.2 points and a second tournament-best 12 rebounds per contest.
