Gilas' Quiambao earns praise after passing clinic vs India
MANILA, Philippines — Gilas neophyte Kevin Quiambao was showered with plaudits from head coach Chot Reyes and teammate Thirdy Ravena following his impressive playmaking in the Philippines' 101-59 victory over India in the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup in Istora Stadium in Indonesia on Friday.
Quiambao played off of the bench to tally nine assists for Gilas — a team high — to add to his six points, three rebounds, and a steal.
When he was on the floor, Gilas outscored the Indians by 20.
After the game, Reyes said that the Nationals are fortunate to have a player like the DLSU commit.
"It's a luxury for us to have such a good passer in that position," said Reyes.
"It wasn't anything consciously that we wanted him to do this for the game, it's just allowing him to go and play to his strength," he added.
Quiambao's style has made him beloved to his teammates. Ravena in particular, enjoyed sharing time on the hardcourt with the youngster.
"Definitely, I love being with him in the court," Ravena said.
"It's not every day that you come across such an intelligent and aggresive passer in Kevin," he added.
Ravena said that Quiambao's playmaking enabled him to zero in on his own game and find chances to be open to receive the latter's passes.
"Just being inside makes me focus more on getting to my spots because you know when the defense reacts to whatever offense does and he has the ball, he’ll most likely be able to spot that in an instant and just kick it and give you the assist," he said.
"Distributing the ball from a big man’s posititon is a little bit rare in our game nowadays.Just very fortunate to have him. I’m just proud of how he has brought his strength when he was in high school to the international level. It will only get better from here," he continued.
Gilas hopes to make a surprise resurgence when they face the New Zealand Tall Blacks on Sunday, July 17.
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