Gilas Pilipinas guard Jordan Clarkson was admittedly bothered after hearing the crowd at the Araneta Coliseum boo head coach Chot Reyes, ahead of their FIBA World Cup game against Italy.

The spectators at the Big Dome jeered the national team coach when he was introduced, in an apparent response to the Philippines’ defeats to the Dominican Republic and Angola in their first two games in Group A.

“It’s a little weird, especially as a host, as a home country,” Clarkson, who scored 23 points in their 90-83 loss to Italy, said.

“I don’t really know much about the situation, but it feels a little weird,” he added.

Clarkson went on to praise his team for gamely going all out against the basketball powerhouse led by his Jazz teammate Simone Fontecchio.

He added they did not back down even against the bigger roster of the Dominican Republic and Angola.

“It’s a tough game, but I think we competed. We competed in all three games. Came out here and gave our best efforts trying to figure out these games,” he said.

“We fight. We haven’t given up throughout the whole game. Basketball is a game of missed shots and ups and downs. We string together runs, we fight to the end of the horn,” he added.

The fight shown by Gilas ultimately was not enough to take them to the second round of the World Cup. They still had a chance to advance after the Dominican Republic defeated Angola earlier in the night, but the Filipinos couldn’t take care of business in their own game.

Needing to beat their opponents by at least 13 points, Gilas instead gave up 17 three-pointers to Italy — a team that had made a combined 12 triples in their first two games of the tournament.

Gilas fell behind by as much as 18 points and while a late run made the final score more respectable, they could not overhaul Italy’s lead.

The Philippines will now try to salvage their campaign in the classification phase, where they can still clinch an Olympic spot should they finish as the highest-ranked Asian country. (ABS-CBN News)