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    Tab in no mood for 'moral victories' after Gilas loss to Serbia

    The man simply hates to lose
    Jul 1, 2021
    PHOTO: fiba.basketball

    AS gallant as Gilas Pilipinas' stand was against Serbia in the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade, Philippine coach Tab Baldwin was in no mood to appreciate any moral victories after his side's 83-76 defeat on Thursday.

    The man simply hates to lose.

    "A lot of people will look at this as some sort of moral victory. I've been in this game for such a long time and I just don't believe in those," the American-New Zealander said after Gilas fell just short of the world's No. 5 ranked basketball team.

    Baldwin acknowledged that this young team is still in its developmental stage and was a big underdog coming in against the hosts. But he was still bummed to see Gilas back Serbia against the wall, only to fall short in the endgame.

    Philippines had its chances in the endgame

    Fighting back from 16 points down, Gilas even held a 74-73 lead with 3:32 left after an RJ Abarrientos layup. But good looks by Ange Kouame, Justine Baltazar, and SJ Belangel just couldn't connect from there.

    "We had chances late. We missed good open looks. I think Ange missed a couple, SJ missed one, and Justine Baltazar missed one as well, and they were really good looks," he said. "They would have put Serbia under even more pressure than they were under late in the game."

    Ange Kouame scoring against Boban Marjanovic.

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    Instead, it was Boban Marjanovic who went to work for Serbia, scoring eight of its final 10 points to wrap up the seven-point win and help Serbia advance to the knockout rounds of the final qualifier for the Tokyo Olympics.

    Baldwin understood that playing under the bright lights may have gotten to his wards, especially for this group which is having its first dip in the international stage after its promising showing in the 2019 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers in Clark.

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    "Sometimes, particularly with a young team and a developing team, the occasion, it can be a bit bigger than we are. But that's what the learning process is all about," he said.

    "I was very proud of the effort today. I wanted to play better than we played and I know that we can play better. And we will play better, but certainly the flow of the game was very competitive and we put in a great effort."

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    Baldwin will never take a loss lightly, but with how this young Gilas squad held its own against the world No. 5 and silver medalist in the 2016 Rio Olympics, he surely went back to the hotel with a smudge of smile on his face.

    "Apart from a little bit of [lack of] composure late, I thought we answered most of the questions that were asked of us by Serbia today," he said.

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      PHOTO: fiba.basketball
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