MANILA, Philippines – Losing this many games in a row is uncharted territory for this Gilas Pilipinas batch.
The national team lost three straight games for the first time since Tim Cone returned as head coach as the Philippines absorbed its first defeat in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers at the hands of Chinese Taipei on Thursday, February 20.
It was another disappointing result for a squad trying to rebound from back-to-back blowouts from Lebanon and Egypt in the Doha International Cup in Qatar just days prior.
As demoralizing as the experience has been, though, there is always a silver lining for the players.
“It’s a tough trip for us but it’s what makes us better. We’re winning a lot of games before but now we’re starting to lose,” Dwight Ramos told One Sports.
“It’s humbling for us. It’s not too good when we win too much. We get complacent. It’s good that we got humbled, so before the Asia Cup, we’ll know we got to prepare harder than this.”
Before this recent stretch, the Philippines had not lost more than two consecutive games under Cone.
The Nationals went unbeaten in the first two windows of the Asia Cup Qualifiers and enjoyed a fine run in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, where it stunned Latvia and lost to Georgia and Brazil in back-to-back games.
Even the defeat to Georgia hardly felt like one as the Filipinos deliberately dropped the match in regulation, avoiding overtime and other quotient complications, to claim their place in the semifinals, where they were eliminated by Brazil.
But the previous games proved to be a letdown, with the Philippines losing by 21 points to Lebanon and by 31 points to Egypt.
Against Chinese Taipei, the Filipinos banked on a stellar game by Justin Brownlee, who finished with 39 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds, only to witness the Taiwanese weather the storm and escape with a 91-84 win at home.
“I guess it’s just learning how to play away, in tough environments, and just be ready. Teams are going to come out and play their best game against us,” said Brownlee.
“We had a lot of recent success. Teams know about that. They’re just going to come put their best game and be very excited to play us. We just got to be ready for it.”
It does not get easier for the Philippines as it stays on the road to wrap up the Asia Cup Qualifiers, facing New Zealand in Auckland on Sunday, February 23.
Aside from clinching the top seed in Group B, the Kiwis are out for payback after they lost to the Filipinos for the first time in FIBA competition in November.
“I feel like we put up a good fight in the end, despite being down and everything going against us. Hopefully, we can still end on a high note as we play New Zealand and try to get that victory,” said AJ Edu.
Game time against New Zealand is 10 am (Manila time). – Rappler.com