Moral wins don’t count for Gilas in OQT buildup

Gilas Pilipinas wasn’t too keen on framing Friday’s valiant stand against Turkiye as an ethical victory.

And for good reason.

“We only have one shot at [making] it to the Olympics, and we can’t be satisfied with [a result of] almost winning,” team manager and national assistant coach Richard del Rosario said in a bulletin released by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas following an 84-73 defeat by the hands of the World No. 24 hosts in Istanbul on Friday.

“While others may even see it as a satisfying first game, our team mindset is: Almost is just not enough,” he added of the friendly that had the Philippines dropping to 1-1 in its series of preparatory games geared towards the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Riga, Latvia, set July 2.

With just 11 players making the trip, Gilas managed to maintain it close with the Turks for a lot of the contest at Besiktas Akatlar Culture and Sports Complex. But saddled with frosty shooting and fouls, the Nationals eventually kissed their hopes of taking down the Dev Adam side preparing for the EuroBasket.

Justin Brownlee and June Mar Fajardo starred for the Filipinos, with the naturalized ace turning in 21 points and the PBA’s seven-time MVP chipping in 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Young and towering big man Kai Sotto was limited to only seven points, no due to fouls that shelved him with three minutes remaining. Fellow cornerstone Dwight Ramos managed to toss in only 4 points as he focused on playmaking, further highlighting gaps left by the absences of AJ Edu and Scottie Thompson—two mainstays grounded by injuries.

Cold shooting

The Filipinos hit only five triples while the Turks converted 14 of their very own, which could thoroughly be a preview of how OQT host Latvia and Georgia would tackle Gilas in Group A of the Riga showcase next week.

“We had our first taste of the form of opposition we can be facing within the OQT,” said Del Rosario. “We move on to the following game with a [more firm] belief that we will hold our own against higher-ranked teams with an actual likelihood of reaching our mission of creating it to Paris.”

Foes priming up

Gilas’ unsatisfied outlook could also be warranted, especially with how the Philippines’ OQT assignments are faring of their respective preparatory matches.

Latvia, the sixth finest squad on the planet, gave its home crowd a preview of how well they may 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 without Boston Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis, who can be out for about six months after going through foot surgery.

The Latvian power forward suffered a “rare” leg injury in Game 2 of the NBA Finals earlier this month and can go under the knife to repair the issue.

“The injury doesn’t allow for consistent play at the extent required for Olympic competition. Surgery can be performed in the approaching days, and further updates can be provided when available,” the Celtics said.

They might have won in runaway fashion, but national coach Luca Banchi—as if putting opposing nations on notice—feels his squad has so rather more to supply.

“It wasn’t our greatest game, but there have been good episodes each for individual players and for the entire team after we found our rhythm,” he said in a report published by the Latvian Basketball Association. “We are going to attempt to take the following steps forward in Tampere.”

Georgia could have lost of their last two friendlies, bowing to Italy, 79-68, after which narrowly to Cameroon, 67-66. But a more in-depth take a look at those defeats shows the Crusaders—especially NBA players Sandro Mamukelashvili and Goga Bitadze—thriving under the system brought by recent Serbian coach Aleksandar Dzikic.

Gilas moves to Poland; Latvia, meanwhile, tackled Finland in Tampere; while Georgia played Egypt on Friday night (each Manila time) for his or her final tune-up matches. —with a report from AFP