MANILA, Philippines — So falls the House of Gilas.
Against tall odds, the Justin Brownlee-less Nationals met an armed-to-the-teeth and vengeful China squad head-on and made a valiant effort to save their reign as Asian Games kingpin.
But Team Dragon came charging with overwhelming force, dashing the hopes of the outgunned Filipinos with a crushing 105-61 verdict and ultimately setting their “dethronement rites” at the end of group play in the 20th Asiad in Nagoya yesterday.
Revenge served for their heartbreak at home in the 2022 edition in Hangzhou. The Chinese didn’t forgive and forget about Gilas wiping out their 20-point lead and stealing a 77-76 win in the semis of the previous Continental meet on its way to the crown on Chinese ground.
“It was pretty much a miracle win against China four years ago. We’re looking for another miracle here. It didn’t happen,” said coach Tim Cone, reflecting on the contrasting results of the Brownlee-bannered squad against Team Dragon before and the all-Filipino crew now.
The 44-point beating proved fatal for the Tim Cone’s troops, who, in the end, missed out on a ticket to the quarterfinals as one of two best third-placers due to inferior numbers on tiebreak.
The Filipinos finished No. 3 in Group C with four points on a 1-2 record but their point differential of -17 doomed their bid in the three-way race for the Last-8, allowing Group B’s Jordan (-5) and Group A’s Saudi Arabia (-11) to take the last available seats instead.
End of the road for Gilas in Japan. One gold medal in possession lost for Team Philippines five days before the Games formally open.
It wasn’t all losses for Team Philippines’ early birds in Aichi-Nagoya, though.
A draw for Filipinas
Over in Gifu City, the Filipinas chalked up one point in the women’s football competition opener with a 1-1 draw against Uzbekistan.
It was a struggle, though, as the youth-laden Pinay booters needed a late strike from 19-year-old Natalie Collins to avert disaster in the Group G duel.
With the Uzbeks holding the lead on Meribon Egam Berdieva’s 81st-minute goal, Collins went on a high press, stole possession and blasted the equalizer home with a minute left in regulation.
The Pinay booters now shift their focus to their next game on Sept. 17 against Hong Kong.
As if rubbing salt on Gilas’ wound, China forced the Philippine quintet to a lowly ninth place in Aichi-Nagoya and an array of dubious records with this blowout.
Worst ever finish by a Philippine team in Asian Games men’s basketball, replacing the seventh in 2014. Worst loss in the Asiad since a 60-125 rout at the hands of China in 1990. Worst loss by a Gilas team since a 67-126 rout by Serbia in the 2019 FIBA World Championship.
With Team Dragon unforgiving and relentless in their show of force and putting the game beyond reach, Gilas was left to play a game-within-the-game at some point.
From initially shooting for an upset, Cone’s troops tried to just bring the losing margin down to 37 – just enough to crack the quarters.
“Main job was to stay alive and continue to play in this tournament and we had that opportunity. If we had lost by only 37 points, we would have made it, but we lost by 44 and so we came up short,” said Cone. “We’re very aware of that (quotient) but really our intention was to come out, play our best and try to win rather than play for the quotient.”
Bambol: Why can’t we?
“It was a good thing we got the gold medal in Hangzhou, though we (now) have to wait for five years to regain the gold medal,” said Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino, referring to the next Games which will be held in 2031 following the Olympic Council of Asia’s decision to shift the joust to odd-numbered years.
“The question is: why do the other countries have so many naturalized players? Why can’t we?” he added.