Gilas Pilipinas’ June Mar Fajardo and Justin Brownlee flank as Turkey participant throughout a tune-up sport in Istanbul forward of the Fiba OQT. –TURKEY BASKETBALL FEDERATION
Gilas Pilipinas wasn’t too eager on framing Friday’s valiant stand towards Turkiye as an ethical victory.
And for good purpose.
“We solely have one shot at [making] it to the Olympics, and we can’t be glad with [a result of] virtually successful,” staff supervisor and nationwide assistant coach Richard del Rosario mentioned in a bulletin launched by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas following an 84-73 defeat by the hands of the World No. 24 hosts in Istanbul on Friday.
“Whereas others might even see it as a satisfying first sport, our staff mindset is: Virtually just isn’t sufficient,” he added of the pleasant that had the Philippines dropping to 1-1 in its collection of preparatory video games geared in the direction of the Olympic Qualifying Event (OQT) in Riga, Latvia, set July 2.
With simply 11 gamers making the journey, Gilas managed to maintain it shut with the Turks for a lot of the contest at Besiktas Akatlar Tradition and Sports activities Complicated. However saddled with frosty capturing and fouls, the Nationals finally kissed their hopes of taking down the Dev Adam aspect making ready for the EuroBasket.
Justin Brownlee and June Mar Fajardo starred for the Filipinos, with the naturalized ace delivering 21 factors and the PBA’s seven-time MVP chipping in 17 factors and 11 rebounds.
Younger and towering huge man Kai Sotto was restricted to only seven factors, no because of fouls that shelved him with three minutes remaining. Fellow cornerstone Dwight Ramos managed to toss in simply 4 factors as he centered on playmaking, additional highlighting gaps left by the absences of AJ Edu and Scottie Thompson—two mainstays grounded by accidents.
Chilly capturing
The Filipinos hit solely 5 triples whereas the Turks transformed 14 of their very own, which might very nicely be a preview of how OQT host Latvia and Georgia would tackle Gilas in Group A of the Riga showcase subsequent week.
“We had our first style of the kind of opposition we will likely be dealing with within the OQT,” mentioned Del Rosario. “We transfer on to the subsequent sport with a [more firm] perception that we will maintain our personal towards higher-ranked groups with an actual probability of reaching our mission of creating it to Paris.”
Foes priming up
Gilas’ unhappy outlook could also be warranted, particularly with how the Philippines’ OQT assignments are faring of their respective preparatory matches.
Latvia, the sixth most interesting squad on the planet, gave its house crowd a preview of how nicely they might play on each ends with an 84-63 rout of Egypt behind Charlotte Hornet Davis Bertans and now-healthy Arturs Zagars. They usually did so with out Boston Celtics huge man Kristaps Porzingis, who will likely be out for about six months after going by means of foot surgical procedure.
The Latvian energy ahead suffered a “uncommon” leg harm in Sport 2 of the NBA Finals earlier this month and can go beneath the knife to restore the issue.
“The harm doesn’t permit for constant play on the degree required for Olympic competitors. Surgical procedure will likely be carried out within the coming days, and additional updates will likely be supplied when accessible,” the Celtics mentioned.
They might have received in runaway vogue, however nationwide coach Luca Banchi—as if placing opposing nations on discover—feels his squad has a lot extra to supply.
“It wasn’t our greatest sport, however there have been good episodes each for particular person gamers and for the entire staff after we discovered our rhythm,” he mentioned in a report revealed by the Latvian Basketball Affiliation. “We’ll attempt to take the subsequent steps ahead in Tampere.”
Georgia might have misplaced of their final two friendlies, bowing to Italy, 79-68, after which narrowly to Cameroon, 67-66. However a better take a look at these defeats exhibits the Crusaders—particularly NBA gamers Sandro Mamukelashvili and Goga Bitadze—thriving beneath the system introduced by new Serbian coach Aleksandar Dzikic.
Gilas strikes to Poland; Latvia, in the meantime, tackled Finland in Tampere; whereas Georgia performed Egypt on Friday evening (each Manila time) for his or her ultimate tune-up matches. —with a report from AFP
