GILAS Pilipinas failed to get the job done anew in Estonia– this time at the hands of world No. 13 Finland last Wednesday night in its second tune-up game for the FIBA World Cup.
Coach Chot Reyes said the Philippine five will roll with the punches as long as those could work wonders for them in their campaign in the blue-ribbon world cage spectacle the country is co-hosting with Japan and Indonesia from Aug. 25 to Sept. 10.
“I was very happy with our effort, very happy with the game,” Reyes said. “It’s obvious that we are still very far from being in any kind of competitive game shape.
“But we are not supposed to be in game shape yet at this point because we have to make sure that we peak at the right time. We don’t want to peak too early and then burn out in the end,” he added.
Reyes spoke after his charges dropped an 85-89 loss to the Finns in Tallinn but just shrugged it off and maintained they will be fine.
“It’s all part of the process and I’m very happy. I’m very happy. I’m very satisfied with the effort,” Reyes said.
“Sure, there’s a lot of things to work on but those are things that we knew coming in are going to be problems. Those are the challenges that we are going to face.”
Versatile guard Dwight Ramos shone for Gilas for the second straight game with 15 points, while naturalized forward Justin Brownlee, who failed to finish the team’s 71-81 defeat to Estonia three days ago due to cramps, chipped in 11 markers.
Reigning PBA MVP Scottie Thompson also had 10 points, including a three-pointer that pegged the final count, while June Mar Fajardo added 10.
The nationals will travel to Lithuania where they are set to play at least four games, according to Reyes.
“Very happy with our effort, it’s not perfect, there’s still a lot of improvement, but I think it’s a very good first step,” he said. “Those are going to be good tests for us.”
Gilas was drawn with Italy, Dominican Republic, and Angola in Group A of the World Cup.
The Filipino cagers need to finish at least in the top two at the end of the group stage to advance to the next round and hopefully boost their bid of becoming the best placed Asian squad to directly qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
