Alapag sees Gilas loss to Korea as learning opportunity for FIBA world qualifiers

MANILA, Philippines — Jimmy Alapag believes that Gilas Pilipinas’ painful loss to South Korea on Thursday is a springboard for the bigger battle looming on the horizon.

“You know, this is all preparation for us leading to November in the first leg of the World Cup qualifiers,” he offered during the sendoff  for the Southeast Games’ contingent on Thursday.

Having been the spearhead of the Philippine team that neutralized the Koreans for a ticket to the 2014 World Cup, Alapag is one of the few people who could actually whip out hot takes on Gilas’ latest outing.

“I don’t think we played as sharp as we would’ve wanted to and as sharp as we needed to,” he offered. “It’s always tough. Every time you play Korea, there’s a little bit more because of the rivalry. It goes back for many years now. And again, it was tough."

The Philippines looked like they could post a run against their longtime tormentors in the quarterfinals in Beirut, Lebanon last night. Until the Koreans began hitting their treys. Again. And again. And again.

READ: Gilas succumbs to Koreans anew

“I think considering how well Korea played, they were almost flawless last night, so you have to give them credit,” Alapag noted.

“I guess our guys will only get better from this experience,” the former national team skipper pointed out.

Alapag said the performance is a good indicator of how the Philippine “are standing and how we match up with the other teams” in the region.

The Philippines will be shifting its focus to the SEA Games, where it will be defending its hold of the top spot, which dates back to 1991. After the biennial meet, Gilas will be preparing for the 2019 World Cup qualifiers set to begin this November.

Gilas takes on Japan first and then Chinese-Taipei in November. They will tackle Australia and Japan anew early next year. The Filipinos will have another crack at the Taiwanese and the Aussies mid-2018.