Gilas suffers ‘tough loss’ to Turkey
Winning is the only option for Gilas Pilipinas to clinch the coveted seat to the Paris Olympics.
They can’t settle for anything less than that.
The Filipinos got a glimpse of what to expect in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Riga, Latvia next week after absorbing an 84-73 loss to world No. 24 Turkey Friday in the first of their two tune-up games.
Gilas trailed most of the match as they struggled on their outside shooting in a measly 5-of-17 clip while having difficulty containing Turkey from launching 41 long bombs with 14 finding their mark.
Naturalized player Justin Brownlee and big man June Mar Fajardo did most of the heavy lifting on offense with doubledigit scoring, but the rest of head coach Tim Cone’s 11-man squad had a hard time getting their groove.
“It was a tough loss against Turkey. We had our first taste of the kind of opposition we will be facing in the OQT,” Gilas team manager Richard del Rosario said.
Del Rosario added that although Gilas made a gallant stand against a more experienced and higher-ranked team where they even threatened to turn things around after closing the gap 78-73 in the final minutes, moral victories won’t take the Nationals back in the Summer Games for the first time since the 1972 Munich Olympics.
After all, Gilas will be contending against world No. 6 Latvia on 3 July before squaring off with 23rd ranked Georgia the following day in the group stage of the OQT.
“While others may see it as a satisfying first game, our team mindset is — almost is not enough,” he said.
Brownlee finished with 21 points but only made one trey off his seven attempts while Fajardo had a double-double of 17 markers and 11 rebounds.
The Nationals kept the game from turning into a blowout in front of a good Filipino crowd by mounting several rallies but the Turks, who played sans their National Basketball Association players, frustrated the visiting team’s runs with timely counterattacks.
Gilas only trailed by two, 4240, heading into the intermission.
Turkey was in control throughout the third quarter but had a scare when Gilas rallied to get within three, 68-65, when Brownlee connected his lone triple with 6:58 left in the game.
But the Turks answered with eight straight points capped by a triple by Tarik Biberovic for a 76-65 separation.
Gilas cut their deficit to just two possessions before Turkey finished them off with a closing 6-0 blitz.
Biberovic scored a game-high 23 points anchored on 5-of-9 triples while Can Korkmaz scored 12 markers for the three-time Euroleague champion coach Ergin Ataman-mentored Turks.
San Antonio Spurs’ Cedi Osman skipped the friendly but was at courtside to watch his team as it prepares for the FIBA Eurobasket qualifiers in November.
Center Kai Sotto spent just 19 minutes of action before fouling out with 2:35 left in the game and had seven points for Gilas.
Carl Tamayo also had seven markers, Chris Newsome got five while Dwight Ramos scored four, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out seven assists.
‘While others may see it as a satisfying first game, our team mindset is — almost is not enough.’