DISAPPOINTING was the Serbia trip for Dwight Ramos, to say the least.
Not only did Gilas Pilipinas lose its two games in the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade, the Fil-Am guard also was unable to contribute for the Philippine team as he dealt with his strained groin.
The Fil-American guard of Ateneo said it was frustrating not to be able to do anything to save the Filipinos from their 83-76 defeat to Serbia on Thursday and 94-67 rout at the hands of Dominican Republic on Friday.
Still, the 6-foot-4 slasher knew that this young Gilas team did not come home empty-handed as they take with them valuable lessons which should be crucial for the team's development for the future.
"We learned a lot from these two games," Ramos said in an interview with Fiba. "We are still very young. So it ended up with a lot of basketball lessons on the court and off the court. But it was an excellent learning experience."
Ramos said the exposure should boost the confidence of the team as it turns its attention to the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup in Indonesia this August.
The ultimate goal, he added, is the 2023 Fiba World Cup which the country will co-host with Japan and Indonesia.
"We will go there and try to continue working on our stuff, get better. But yes, that's just one checkpoint on the road to Fiba World Cup 2023," the 22-year-old guard said. "We'll take one step at a time, continue to grow, and be ready to put on a show at that tournament in 2023.
"I think we showed some hint of the future, showed how good we can be. Going forward, we'll keep getting support from our Gilas fans. By 2023, we will be ready, stadiums will be packed, and hopefully, we will play some good basketball."
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