COACH Luca Banchi admitted Latvia got rattled following a bad start which eventually led to its stunning 80-89 loss against Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament early Thursday morning at Riga Arena.
The Latvians trailed 0-8 in the early minutes of the first quarter, their frustrations eventually growing when their shots continued to miss the mark.
The home team managed to climb back from a deep 26-point hole in the third quarter and got its crowd back into the match, but the Filipinos were just too composed in the endgame and hardly unnerved by the spirited charge of the No. 6-ranked team in the world.
READ: History unfolds in Latvia as Gilas stuns world No. 6 in OQT
“Unfortunately, the game [started] immediately bad and that created sort of a panic to the team,” said the 58-year-old Banchi, a native of Grosseto, Italy.
“We became rushed and when you see the numbers, you can understand.”
Latvia shot 37 percent from the field (27-of-72), including 23 percent from three-point range opposite Gilas.
That was in stark contrast with its showing against Georgia on opening night when the hosts sizzled for 41 percent from long-range (12-of-29) for a total of 49 percent shooting from the floor.
“We had a lot of threes, most of the time open,” Banchi pointed out. “But unfortunately, we lost from the very beginning.”
Gilas earned it
Of course, that wouldn’t take away Gilas' historic victory.
“I believe it was an excellent performance from the very beginning. They were very sharp, they imposed not only their physicality, but also their sharpness to find solution on offense,” he said of the Filipinos. “Our opponent played a very good game, very solid.”
Latvia finished the group phase with an even 1-1 record, but still has a strong chance of advancing to the semifinals following its 28-point blowout of Georgia in the opener, 83-55.
“We have to reset and focus on the next step of the tournament,” said Banchi, adding the loss to Gilas was a learning experience for the team many considered as the pleasant surprise of last year’s FIBA World Cup.
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