SERBIA coach Igor Kokoskov praised Gilas Pilipinas for its gallant stand in its 83-76 defeat to the hosts in the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade early Thursday morning (Manila time).
"I would like to congratulate the Philippine team for playing really good, playing together as a unit," said the former Phoenix Suns coach.
A heavy underdog, Gilas stunned the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist and world No. 5 by roaring back from 16 points down and even grabbing the lead, 74-73 lead, with 3:50 left after an RJ Abarrientos layup.
This grit seemingly left Serbia scrambling and it needed a huge lift from Boban Marjanovic to secure the victory late.
"They played a really great game tonight," said Serbia star Danilo Andjusic, who lauded the Filipinos for giving his team a hell of a fight. "I wanna congratulate the Philippines on a great game."
Kokoskov also praised coach Tab Baldwin for the superb job he has done for this youth-laden Gilas side, which didn't have starting guard Dwight Ramos yet made the Serbian side sweat all the way to the final buzzer.
"Coach Baldwin is doing a great job and he's a dear friend of mine," said the mentor. "I think he’s doing an awesome job and I’m happy for him. I think his team played really together and they are competing."
Andjusic, though, couldn't help but express his disappointment over his side's performance, saying, "Honestly, from the beginning of the game, we didn't show a good game."
'No rhythm'
"We didn’t have rhythm and that’s why we had a close game. We should be much better in defense and find a good rhythm in offense so we can play more easily in the game. So we need to find the flow and fight," he said.
"But at the end of the day, the most important thing is that we won the game."
Serbia has advanced to the knockout rounds of the Belgrade OQT, topping Group A with its 2-0 slate. Gilas Pilipinas can join them in the next round with a win over Dominican Republic on Friday.
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