Gilas Pilipinas’ Olympic Dream Dashed by Brazil in OQT SemisGilas Pilipinas’ Olympic Dream Dashed by Brazil in OQT Semis Gilas Pilipinas’ hopes of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics came to an end on Saturday night in Riga, Latvia, as they fell to powerhouse Brazil 71-60 in the semifinals of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Despite controlling the first half and holding a 12-point lead in the second quarter, Gilas crumbled in the second half as Brazil opened the third quarter with a dominant 14-0 run. The lead ballooned to 16 points in the fourth quarter, ultimately proving insurmountable. 41-year-old point guard Marcelinho Huertas led Brazil’s charge, showcasing his experience and skill in the second half, finishing with 13 points and seven assists. Despite his age, Huertas dominated the court, hurting Gilas with his off-the-ball screens and pull-up shots. “I don’t know what to say,” said coach Tim Cone. “It’s painful that we didn’t (win) after coming here and expecting to win.” “Huertas was hitting us, hurting us coming off the ball screens and pulling up. I think we panicked a little bit and started doing a lot of one-on-ones.” Dwight Ramos, who contributed 13 points for Gilas, acknowledged the team’s poor performance. “You don’t show up and play your best, and you lose. That’s how good the teams are here.” The absence of Kai Sotto, who was ruled out with a rib injury, weighed heavily on Gilas’ frontcourt rotation. Despite playing with just 10 men, coach Cone refused to use it as an excuse. “We’ve got to find a way to get over the hump and get there, and tonight we didn’t do that.” Despite the disappointing result, Cone hopes to retain the current core and integrate injured players such as AJ Edu, Jamie Malonzo, and Scottie Thompson. He aims to make a stronger impact at the next World Cup in 2027. “We’re trying to keep these guys together for the next three to four years… It’s a growing experience for us. It’s a ‘now we know’ kind of moment.” “We have to keep pushing and moving forward and getting better.”
Gilas chose the worst time for a bad night, as they lost by 11 points and were therefore eliminated from the OQT.
The Philippines will have to wait a little longer before its Olympic basketball drought ends.
A disastrous third quarter spelled the end of Gilas Pilipinas’ Olympic dream on Saturday night as they fell to superior Brazil 71-60 in the semifinals of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia.
Gilas controlled the first half, even leading by 12 points in the second quarter, but settled for a 33-27 halftime lead. But it was a different story in the second half, as Brazil got going behind the play of 41-year-old point guard Marcelinho Huertas, opening the third quarter with a 14-0 run from which Gilas never recovered.
The lead grew to as much as 16 points in the fourth quarter, before Gilas reduced the margin to a more respectable difference.
Brazil is in 12th placee in the FIBA rankings and have seven players with NBA experience. That included Huertas, who played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the mid-2010s. Despite his advancing age, he was Brazil’s most important player in the second half, finishing with 13 points and seven assists.
“I don’t know what to say,” coach Tim Cone said. “You know, it’s funny, we didn’t expect to be here, but when we came here, we expected to win. So it’s really painful that we didn’t. Especially after going into halftime and coming out and (Brazil) going 12-0 or 14-0 on us, it was painful to watch the third quarter start. There’s a reason Brazil is the 12th-ranked team in the world, and they proved it tonight.
“Huertas was hitting us, hurting us coming off the ball screens and pulling up, doing some nice things, and I think we panicked a little bit. We started doing a lot of one-on-ones.”
Gilas forward Dwight Ramos, who scored 13 points, was more blunt: “You don’t show up and play your best, and you lose. That’s how good the teams are here, so today we just didn’t play our best, and Brazil beat us.”
Gilas played with just 10 men after Kai Sotto was ruled out with a rib injury he sustained against Georgia. His absence weighed heavily on Gilas’ frontline rotation.
“We don’t want to make excuses, but losing Kai was a big blow to us because it took away our depth up front and forced June Mar Fajardo to play overtime, and all that just shot up,” Cone said. “But the bottom line is we just weren’t good enough tonight, and we’ve got to get better.”
Fajardo finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, but took a personal tournament-best 10 shots.
“We had to overextend our front line. I think June Mar got tired of fighting number 51 (Bruno Caboclo) and number 6 (Cristiano Felicio) the most. Those were two guys who ganged up on him and turned him around. It was a tough fight for him because he was all alone there.”
What’s next?
Despite the disappointing ending, this OQT experience can still be considered a success on some level. No one expected Gilas to shock hosts Latvia, ranked 6th in the world and playing on their home turf, and push Georgia to their limits. Cone even revealed after the Georgia game that they had to change their travel plans as they were leaving on Friday.
Yet there is still a sense that more can be done and that it is no longer acceptable to take on the world powers alone.
“You know, we try to tell ourselves that almost isn’t good enough. You know, almost winning, almost being there, almost that. It’s not good enough. We’ve got to find a way to get over the hump and get there, and tonight we didn’t do that.”
Cone hopes to retain this core and hopes that injured players AJ Edu, Jamie Malonzo and Scottie Thompson will soon rejoin them. In the long term, he hopes to make himself heard at the next World Cup in 2027.
“The whole part of putting this particular program together, which is different than what we had in the (2023) World Cup, is the fact that we’re hopefully keeping these guys together for the next three to four years, and trying to keep them together for the next World Cup. It’s hard to talk about this right after you lose, but it’s a growing experience for us. It’s a ‘now we know’ kind of moment.
“Now we know we can compete, so how can we take that next step where we get a little bit better and not just compete, but win? Then playing these kinds of tournaments where you play three games in four days, every game becomes harder and harder. These are things that we have to adapt to. Like I said, we didn’t expect to be here, but once we’re here, we expect to win.
“It’s an incredible disappointment for us. We’re not going to jump up and down and say, ‘Yay, we did our thing’ and everyone was proud of us. Hopefully that doesn’t creep into our minds.
“We have to keep pushing and moving forward and getting better.”
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