THE loss of Gilas Pilipinas to Australia is not the end, but only the beginning.
While the 84-60 blowout at the hands of the Boomers ended Gilas' run in the 31st FIBA Asia Cup, coach Tim Cone said the experience would come in hand the next time they cross paths with Australia in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers later this year.
“We’ve got them coming up again in the World Cup qualifiers. They are in our bracket. We got to figure out some things ahead of us,” said the veteran coach on Wednesday night following the loss at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah.
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“We got to really digest this, we got to look at videos, we got to see what’s going on and go forward.”
The Philippines is bracketed in Group A in the World Cup qualifiers set to start this November together with Australia, New Zealand, and Guam.
And in this Asia Cup, the Boomers, according to Cone, just overwhelmed the team as they played like the two-time defending champion who remains undefeated in 16 games since they began competing in the continental showpiece.
“We tried to do some things but they dind’t work for us. We tried to keep the game under a certain type of tempo. We tried to get into more of an execution-type game rather than an up-and-down, and they just overwhelmed that idea. We couldn’t do it,” admitted the national coach.
“So at some point, we tried to match them pace for pace, and they just overwhelmed us.”
It didn’t help any that Gilas wasn’t in its sharpest form just two days after that epic overtime comeback against host Saudi Arabia, 95-88, that set up the showdown against the Boomers.
Gilas was held to a 31 percent shooting from the field, including 8-of-33 from beyond the arc, and was also clobbered off the boards, 57-36.
“It wasn’t the performance we’re hoping for. That’s for sure,” said Cone. “I didn’t like our performance tonight. I didn’t think we stepped up as much as we wanted to.”
“Tournament is over for us. In the big scheme of things, we’re not pleased with what happened.”
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