THE Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) finally broke its silence and apologized for the disappointing campaign of Gilas Pilipinas after failing to retain the basketball gold in the recent 31st Southeast Asian Games.
SBP president Al S. Panlilio was apologetic in his statement posted on the federation's Facebook account, saying it takes full responsibility on the result of the national team's campaign in Hanoi Vietnam.
See Chot Reyes says blame's on me after Gilas' horror loss in Hanoi
"We apologize we fell short and were not able to give our teams better support they needed to retain the gold," said Panlilio.
"There are no excuses and we've learned out lessons. We will bounce back and reclaim our spot to stay ahead."
Indonesia bags its first-ever SEA Games men's basketball gold at the expense of the Philippines.
The SBP statement came four days after Gilas Pilipinas absorbed an 85-81 loss to Indonesia in the gold medal match of the SEA Games, relegating the Filipinos to their first silver medal finish since the 1989 edition of the meet in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Coach Chot Reyes had since taken accountability for the loss that paved the way for Indonesia to win its very first basketball gold in the SEA Games.
"Obviously that’s on me. I take full accountability and responsibility for the result. Like I said, they tried their best and that’s sports. That’s life. Sometimes, things don’t work out the way we played,” said Reyes, who came underfire for the heartbreaking loss of the national team.
But the SBP opted to remain silent until Wednesday in light of the tragedy that also saw the men and women's 3x3 teams failing to retain their respective titles.
The men's team represented by PBA 3x3 champion Limitless App, ended up bagging the bronze medal, while its women's counterpart failed to land a podium spot.
Only the Gilas 5x5 women's team managed to defend its title, although it absorbed a stunning 96-93 loss to Malaysia on the final day of the tournament that prevented the Filipina cagebelles to win the gold undefeated.
In the 2019 edition of the SEA Games in Manila, Gilas Pilipinas completed a sweep of all the four golds at stake in basketball.
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