GILAS Pilipinas star wingman Dwight Ramos waved to the appreciative Pinoy crowd one last time—and shed tears on a sad Wednesday night.
One could not blame the 6-foot-4 Ramos.
The Philippine five went into the FIBA Asia Cup armed with high hopes of ending a 40-year title dry spell but a wobbly start in the group phase ultimately proved costly as it set up Gilas to a Herculean task of overcoming top seed and defending two-time champion Australia in the quarterfinals.
National coach Tim Cone tried everything he could to put things into perspective—and cordial—but did not hide the fact that his charges simply floundered when it mattered most.
“It’s not the performance we’re hoping for, that’s for sure. Mixed emotions. I really like our team. I like the way we play. I like the togetherness,” Cone said. “They’re all good guys and they’re easy to coach.
“But I didn’t like our performance tonight. I didn’t think we stepped up as much as we wanted to,” he added.
Cone spoke after the Filipino cagers fell 64-80 at the hands of the Boomers and bombed out of the continental cage extravaganza.
The Aussies are not world No. 7 for nothing.
“No doubt the Australian athleticism and length, even though you see it on video, when you get up there and start playing against it and on the court, you realize that they’re very superior and so we just had a hard time staying in front of them,” Cone said. “We had a hard time challenging their threes and they moved the ball really well and they got up shots quickly.
“They played at a really good pace. We were trying to keep it at a slower pace, but we just didn’t have enough discipline to do that throughout the game. They also did a great job on Justin (Brownlee), defending him, limiting him to only seven shots and so the tournament is over for us and in the big scheme of things, we’re not pleased with what happened.
Young standout Kevin Quiambao carried the fight for Gilas with 17 points and four rebounds while Ramos chipped in 15 markers, seven boards, and two dimes.
Brownlee groped for form, winding up with a measly 10-point outing.
With the World Cup Asian qualifiers set to kick off in November, Cone and his wards are moving forward.
“But like I said, this is a great team to be around and I’m really proud and honored to be on this team and with these guys,” he said. “But tonight was not a good performance for us.”
Their disappointing outing on Wednesday night should be buried now in the past.
