DWIGHT Ramos gave a big shoutout to Filipino fans who continue to come in droves and support Gilas Pilipinas despite another loss in the 31st FIBA Asia Cup.
The Fil-Am point guard credited the fans for serving as their strength and inspiration especially now when the chips are down following a 94-86 setback to New Zealand early Friday (Manila time) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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The King Abdullah Sport City has drawn Filipino crowd – majority of them overseas workers – in the two times the Philippine men’s team played against Chinese Taipei and the Tall Blacks.
Both games saw Gilas roar back from 18-point deficits in the first half, spurred by the endless cheering of the fans shouting 'Defense! Defense!' In unison.
Against the Tall Blacks, the Filipinos came within 85-82 inside the final three minutes, only to be stymied by costly turnovers which the world’s no. 22 ranked team were quick to pounce on.
Nonetheless, the 26-year-old Ramos made special mention of the Gilas supporters – hailed as the ‘Most Valuable Fans’ during the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain – for always being there with the team, win or lose.
“Shoutout to them (Gilas fans). They’re part of the reason why we came back,” said the Fil-Am guard, whose second-half explosion helped the Philippines mount its way back into the game.
“I think the crowd definitely played a big part especially when we’re making a run,” added Ramos, who finished with 19 points. “It just feels like the arena is about to explode because they’re just full of Filipinos.”
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Gilas getting a lot of support from the crowd wasn’t lost on New Zealand coach Judd Flavell.
“I said in the last press conference (against Iraq) that this game (Gilas) was going to have a fun atmosphere. And the Filipinos did come out in numbers,” Flavell said.
The former New Zealand national player recalled playing the Filipinos under the same circumstances despite playing at home in Auckland during the final leg of the Asia Cup qualifiers.
“We played them in Auckland in February at the Spark Stadium and it was another fun atmosphere,” acknowledging the home fans were outnumbered by the supporters of Gilas.
Too bad, Gilas couldn’t complete its huge comeback despite the huge cheers of the crowd.
Ramos admitted the entire Gilas team is in shell-shocked with the way things panned out in its campaign.
But he liked the way the team – ranked no. 34 in the world – turned things around in the second half against the Tall Blacks.
“In the second half, we played the way we’re supposed to. I’m just hoping that we carry this momentum to the next game,” he said.
The next game will be on Saturday afternoon (Manila time) against Iraq in a do-or-die tussle for both teams.
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