June Mar Fajardo and Justin Brownlee of Gilas Philippines face Turkey during a tune-up game in Istanbul ahead of the FIBA OQT. -Turkish Basketball Federation
Gilas Philippines was not in a position to portray Friday’s brave stand against Turkiye as a moral victory.
And for good reason.
“We only have one chance [making] This has to be taken to the Olympics, and we cannot be complacent about that [a result of] “We are almost winning,” team manager and national assistant coach Richard del Rosario said in a bulletin issued by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas after the world No. 24 side lost 84-73 to the hosts in Istanbul on Friday.
“While others may consider it a satisfactory first game, our team’s mentality is: almost is not enough,” he said of the friendly match which the Philippines tied 1-1 in a series of games designed to prepare for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) to be held in Riga, Latvia on July 2.
Traveling with just 11 players, Gilas Besiktas managed to keep up with the Turks for most of the contest at the Aktaler Culture and Sports Complex. But cold shooting and fouls saw the Nationals ultimately kiss their hopes of beating a Dev Adam team preparing for EuroBasket.
Justin Brownlee and June Mar Fajardo starred for the Filipinos, with the naturalized player scoring 21 points and the seven-time PBA MVP adding 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Young and towering forward Kai Sotto managed just seven points before being fouled out with three minutes remaining. Teammate Dwight Ramos managed just four points as he focused on playmaking, which made the game less of a challenge due to the absence of AJ Adu and Scottie Thompson – two key players out with injuries.
Cold Shooting
The Philippines hit only five triples while the Turks hit 14 triples, which could be a preview of how OQT will fare when they face hosts Latvia and Georgia Gilas in Group A of the Riga Showcase next week.
“We got to know for the first time what kind of opponents we will face in OQT,” Del Rosario said. “We will move on to the next game [more firm] We are confident that we can strengthen our position against higher-ranked teams and that our chances of achieving our goal of reaching Paris are realistic.”
Preparing the enemies
Gilas’ disgruntled outlook may be justified, especially considering how the Philippines’ OQT assignees are faring in their respective prep matches.
Latvia, the sixth-best team in the world, showed their home crowd just how well they can play on both ends. They beat Egypt 84-63 with help from Charlotte Hornets Davis Bertans and a now-healthy Arturs Zagars. And they did it without Boston Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis, who will be out for about six months due to foot surgery.
The Latvian power forward suffered a “rare” foot injury in Game 2 of the NBA Finals earlier this month and will need to undergo surgery to fix the problem.
“The injury makes it impossible to play consistently at the level required for Olympic competition. Surgery will be performed in the coming days and further information will be provided when available,” the Celtics said.
They may have secured a glorious win, but national coach Luca Banchi – as if warning rival nations – feels there is more to his team.
“It wasn't our best game, but there were good episodes for individual players and the whole team, when we found our rhythm,” he said in a report published by the Latvian Basketball Association. “We will try to take the next step forward in Tampere.”
Georgia have lost their last two friendlies, losing 79-68 to Italy, and then 67-66 to Cameroon. But a closer look at those losses shows that the Crusaders – particularly NBA players Sandro Mamukelashvili and Goga Bitadze – are thriving under the system brought in by new Serbian coach Aleksandar Dzik.
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Gilas moved on to Poland; Latvia, meanwhile, faced Finland in Tampere; while Georgia played Egypt on Friday night (both Manila time) for their final tune-up matches. – With a report from AFP
