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Justin Brownlee and members of Gilas Pilipinas wave to the crowd after their home team's victory over Hong Kong in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers. –FIBA Photo
Indeed, Gilas Pilipinas overcame a sluggish start Thursday night and came away with an important victory that kick-started their grand plans to return to the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) World Cup for the first time in four years.
However, the first half of Hong Kong's crushing 94-64 defeat in front of a crowd made up mainly of overseas Filipino groups at the Tsuen Wan Sports Center had national coach Tim Cone hoping for more.
And rightly so.
„What we want from this team is to not just go forward and try to take fast shots, but also to create more attacks from our defense,“ he said immediately after the Filipinos' first Asian Cup qualifying win. told two reporters.
“(E)Everybody was trying hard, but they were tentative and we were missing shots that we should have taken. We were trying a little too hard defensively. We were allowing guys. We were doing everything in the first half that we weren't supposed to do.“
The Philippines started 9-0, but by the second period they found Hong Kong suffocating. The hosts briefly took the lead, but three big plays from Dwight Ramos got Gilas back on track, leading to a 12-0 run in the third that all but put the Nationals back in the driver's seat for good. .
„The road is long“
Cone contributed a memorable first half to his team's first game, but was equally quick to admit that Gilas still has a „long way to go.“
That's exactly how Justin Brownlee felt about himself, even after finishing with 16 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.
So did young big man Kai Sotto, who had a double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds in June when Mar Fajardo and AJ Edu were out.
„I didn't expect to come out and play so well. I was just trying to find a rhythm,“ said Brownlee, who received a doping ban after the Philippines' historic Asiad win.
„I'm glad we won. But like coach Tim said, this game is like a test for us,“ Sotto pointed out. „After this game, it's not the opponent that's going to be judged, it's us, because everyone knows we're the better team.“
Gilas Pilipinas will have a chance to make some tweaks and do better when they host Chinese Taipei this Sunday at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City. But if Taiwan's performance against the Tall Blacks on Thursday night is any indication, doing so will become even more difficult.
Chinese Taipei continued to play evenly with the Kiwis, but fell away in the final stages, losing 89-69 at home.
„I heard that Taiwan gave New Zealand a serious fight today, so they'll be a team to watch come Sunday,“ Cohn said. „We need to play much, much better than we did tonight.“
„Taiwan is going to be even more difficult. (But) I think this (experience) will really help us heading into the next game. Taiwan is a better team (than Hong Kong), so we're excited to play against them. I’m looking forward to it,” Sotto said.