DWIGHT Ramos acknowledged it was a humbling experience for Gilas Pilipinas losing a number of games on the road including a 91-84 defeat at the hands of Chinese Taipei in their FIBA Asia Cup qualifier.
The 26-year-old combo guard sees the losing streak that began from the three friendlies in Doha, Qatar as something that should make the team better going to its campaign in the Asia Cup proper in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia six months from now.
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“It’s a tough trip for us, but it’s what makes us better. We’re winning a lot of games before, but now we’re starting to lose. It’s humbling for us,” said Ramos in a video interview posted by One Sports as the team left Chinese Taipei Friday morning for its flight in Auckland, New Zealand for Gilas’ Sunday showdown against the Tall Blacks.
“It’s not too good when we win too much. We get complacent.”
Before the loss to the Taiwanese in a tightly-contested match at the Taipei Heiping basketball gymnasium, the Filipinos won their first four outings in the qualifiers, allowing them to take the provisionary lead in Group B.
But after winning over Qatar at the start of the 2nd Doha Cup Invitational, Gilas lost its next two games to Lebanon and Egypt, a slump that eventually extended to the qualifier against Chinese Taipei.
While losing is not good, Ramos said the setbacks somehow makes the national team keep its feet on the ground.
“It’s good that we got humbled, so before the Asia Cup, we’ll know we got to prepare harder than this,” said the Japan B. League veteran, who was the leading local scorer for Gilas with 15 points after the 39 of naturalized player Justine Brownlee
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