Boomers next for Gilas

MANILA, Philippines — From coach Tim Cone to the players, Gilas Pilipinas recognized it as “Mission: Unaccomplished” against New Zealand Thursday night.

And not in the business of taking “moral victories,” the Nationals prefer to take their 66-69 defeat to the Tall Blacks in the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers as it really was, no sugarcoating, and proceed to the next.

“I hate to say it, but we’re going to continue to learn as we go forward. But I just don’t want to get into this ‘we-almost-won, we-almost-did-that’ (thinking). We don’t want to play that game with ourselves. We want to win games,” coach Tim Cone said after Gilas absorbed its first loss in Group A in front of adoring supporters at the SM MOA Arena after a 2-0 start.

Shifting focus on the next one is very crucial considering that it’s three-peat Asian titlist Australia that lies in wait.

The Filipinos face the unbeaten Boomers (3-0) tomorrow in the same venue, in the two squads’ first meeting on Philippine soil since the infamous 2018 brawl at the Philippine Arena.

The two nations have crossed paths overseas since, in the quarterfinals of the Asia Cup in Jeddah last August with the Aussies roaring to an 84-60 romp and eventually completing a hat trick in the tournament.

The preceding gig against tall and physical NZ should help prepare Cone’s troops for the formidable Boomers.

Attempting to replicate their celebrated 93-89 upset of the Kiwis in 2024 in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, the Filipino dribblers fought tooth and nail and gave themselves a fighting chance to drop the axe again.

Down by 10 in the fourth, Gilas rallied furiously and went one or two possessions short of completing a steal. Dwight Ramos’ last-gasp heave from downtown just missed the mark, allowing the Tall Blacks to dodge the bullet and barge into the win column after losing their first two versus Australia.

“Right now, all I can think about are my mistakes, my missed shots, including the last shot. I feel bad but we’ve got to move on to the next game,” said Ramos, who took the scoring cudgels with 16.