GAME TODAY
(King Abdullah Sports City)
11 p.m. – Philippines vs. New Zealand
NATIONAL coach Tim Cone sported a forlorn look watching his charges struggle mightily against Chinese Taipei yesterday.
Cone’s thoughts were not unfounded—Gilas dropped an 87-95 loss to Chinese Taipei in Group D of the FIBA Asia Cup at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“Obviously, we didn’t play a very good one. Disappointed in the way we played. We got behind early in the game and just played on our heels the whole way. It was like we were in panic mode for 40 minutes,” Cone said. “But you know, if Chinese Taipei continues to play like they did and make the shots that they’re making, then they can be one of the guys that gets a medal.
“Without a doubt, they are playing high-level basketball. Extremely well coached. Obviously, they really outcoached us and a disappointing performance on my part,” he added.
The numbing defeat proved to be a rude awakening for the Philippine five’s bid in the prestigious Aug. 5 to 17 continental tilt with a titanic clash against New Zealand set today at the same venue.
Naturalized star Justin Brownlee showed the way for Gilas with 19 points, seven rebounds, and two assists before fouling out in the fourth quarter, while Kevin Quiambao came off the bench and chimed in 17 markers four boards, and two dimes.
Former MVP Scottie Thompson and Dwight Ramos combined for 32 points.
“Really hurt by the loss, but we’ll see what we can do,” Cone said. “We have to see if we can bounce back from this and move forward. That’s the only thing we can do at this point.”
With little time to lick their wounds and recover, Cone hopes to have a big turnaround against the Tall Blacks.
“We can feel bad about this one as much as we want. We can cry about it even but the bottom line is, we’ve got New Zealand coming up and we’ve got to get ready for them,” he said.
“This team has shown a lot of bounce back in the past and I think we have a really good chance of coming out and playing a better, better game our next time out.”
