FOSHAN, China – Serbian coach Sasa Djordjevic hit some raw nerves when he said that Gilas Pilipinas lacks the quality to compete against the best teams in the world.

And Gilas coach Yeng Guiao was the first to raise a howl.

The fiery mentor took offense in Djordjevic’s statement, saying that they also deserve to be in the prestigious 32-nation tourney after breezing through the Asian qualifiers fair and square.

“We’ve qualified for the World Cup for the second straight time. So how can he say that we didn’t have enough quality,” Guiao said during their training in preparation for their game against Angola late Tuesday.

“That’s why there are FIBA zones and all I know is that we qualified from Asia, meaning that we passed the standard in the World Cup qualification. Now, if he has problem with that, he can go take it up with FIBA.”

Djordjevic was brutally frank, a trademark of Eastern European coaches.

During their game late Monday, the Serbians took it slow and even trailed by two, 7-9, before stepping on the gas to close the first quarter with a 28-13 lead. Then, the beating continued in the second and third periods as NBA players Nemanja Bjelica, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nikola Jokic waxed hot, erecting a horrifying 51-point lead entering the fourth canto.

Naturalized player Andray Blatche, who stands as the heart and soul of the hard-fighting Filipinos, was hobbled by four trouble and was limited to only five points in 28 minutes of action.

“In their standards, maybe we are below par. But that’s why we have zones,” Guiao said.

“That’s the reason why you have qualifiers from all parts of the world. Quality is relative.”

“The quality of basketball in Asia is not as high as the quality of basketball in Europe. But it doesn’t mean that if you’re beaten by wide margin, you don’t deserve to be here.”