By REYNALD MAGALLON
Gilas Pilipinas suffered a gut-wrenching 102-106 defeat against New Zealand — a game that could have easily gone to its favor — if not for the easily preventable errors, the lousy fouls and turnovers, and to some extent, the uncharacteristic offensive struggles from Justin Brownlee.
The chances were there but the Filipinos seemingly just couldn’t keep a firm grip of its control in the contest.
But as painful as the tough loss, there was something that shone through for Gilas, which gave it a glimpse of what the future holds for the program, and, perhaps, can still remind the team that it remains on track of its goals despite the recent setback.
And that is their young guns — Carl Tamayo, Kevin Quiambao, Dwight Ramos and Juan Gomez de Liano — all coming to form.
Ramos continues to prove that he’s one of the viable points of attacks for Gilas with 18 points while Quiambao looked a lot more comfortable playing on the shooting guard spot after firing 23 points.
Up against the rugged Tall Blacks frontline, Tamayo certainly held his ground and finished with his best performance in Gilas uniform with 17 points while Gomez de Liano displayed guts when he took two big triples at the end of regulation and the first extension to finish with 23 points.
“That’s how you evolve a team right? You try to win with your veterans and you try to develop your young guys,” said Cone after the game.
“Our young guys have been developing over the last two years and every time they come into the window they have gotten better,” he added.
And they were just a part of that young core for Gilas.
AJ Edu, while the number might now show, held the fort for Gilas in the absence of Kai Sotto and Quentin Millora-Brown, with six points and four rebounds. Mike Phillips, for his part, showed a glimpse of the energy he would bring to the table in the limited amount of time on the court.
Of course, Sotto will remain a force for Gilas when available while Millora-Brown, when healthy, is another tall and physical body the team can rely on inside the paint.
Gilas might need some time to take the loss in stride but there are certainly plenty of reasons to be excited moving forward.
