Gilas Pilipinas was on the wrong end of the scoreboard after the final buzzer rang at the end of its first assignment in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup.
Motivated to bounce back from their loss in the last window of the qualifiers earlier this year, the Nationals instead suffered their second straight loss against Chinese Taipei — one that came with even higher stakes, as they now sit at 0-1 in the tournament proper.
Gilas head coach Tim Cone acknowledged that what factored in their loss was their reaction following Taipei’s hot start, as the Filipino players became extra aggressive, which resulted in them tallying a number of unwanted fouls.
“We were playing from our heels, we were trying to rush back into the game,” said the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings mentor.
“Disappointed with the way we played, and it looked like we were in panic mode.”
The Philippines, as a result, committed 26 fouls, and Taipei took advantage of this by converting 27 of their 35 free throw attempts.
“We were outcoached, and it was a disappointing one for my part,” added Cone, while one of his players said that their reaction prevented them from rediscovering their groove.
”We got punched early, but we didn’t punch back,” commented AJ Edu, who had eight points and 12 rebounds, but was limited to only 20 minutes because of his three fouls.
Losing this winnable game has major complications for Gilas in the group stage.
They will need to take down both New Zealand and Iraq to give themselves a better shot at an outright quarterfinals spot and clinching Group D’s top seed, while a loss against the Tall Blacks will put Gilas in a must-win position against Iraq for, at the very least, a spot in the knockout round.
However, as costly as the Taipei defeat is, the American tactician is also confident that if there is a team that can overcome such challenges, it will be Gilas.
“This team has shown a lot of bounce back in the past, and I think we have a really good chance to play a better game our next time out,” said Cone.
“This was a huge roadblock for us, but that is something that we want to overcome. If we have to come through the losers’ bracket, then we’re gonna try to do that.”
“There is only one thing that we can do at this point, and that is move on. We can feel bad about this one, cry about it, even, but we’ve got New Zealand coming in two days, so we gotta get ready for them,” he added. (ABS-CBN News)