GILAS Pilipinas watched in horror as Italy finally got into a shooting groove in the Fiba Basketball World Cup.
On Tuesday night, the host team faced a hot-shooting Azzurri side that went 17-of-41 from three-point range and pulled off a 90-83 win at the Smart Araneta Coliseum that shattered all of Gilas’ hopes of advancing to the second round.
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Gilas limped with a 0-3 record in Group A, getting relegated to the classification phase.
“Every game different thing is happening. In the first game, JC fouled out and that was a big factor. Maybe if he didn’t foul out it could have been a different story,” Gilas coach Chot Reyes said of the 87-81 loss to Karl-Anthony Towns and the Dominican Republic in a game in which Clarkson fouled out in the last four minutes.
And then came a frustrating 80-70 loss to Angola where the Filipinos struggled offensively from the floor.
“Last game we couldn’t make our shots, and now we faced a team that made all of their shots,” Reyes added about the Azzurri, who suddenly switched the lights against Gilas after a horrendous outside shooting in their first two games against Angola and Dominican Republic, respectively.
Italy shot a combined 12 three-pointers in an 81-67 win over the Angolans and 87-82 loss to the Dominicans.
But the Azzurri surpassed the output against Gilas as Marco Spissu, Simone Fontecchio, Giampacio Ricci, and Alessandro Pajola accounted for 14 three pointers combined.
“Again that’s the reason why Italy is a Top 10 team. They know what it takes in this type of game,” said Reyes.
To be fair, the host had its best three-point shooting game against Italy, knocking 10 of their 29 shots (34 percent), tying the total combined output it had in its game against Dominican Republic and Angola, with Roger Pogoy again leading the way by making 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.
“We’ve shown that we can compete and even lead against these tough teams. We’re not just able to put together an entire game,” said Reyes.
“But that’s basketball. Every game is different. You have to approach each game, every possession, every play, and that’s all we’re doing.”
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