Serbian coach bashes Gilas

FOSHAN, China – Serbian coach Sasa Djordjevic made an analysis that definitely wouldn’t sit well with millions of Filipino basketball fans.

Shortly after hammering Gilas Pilipinas with a 126-67 beating, Djordjevic noted that the Filipino brand of basketball remains way behind than the powerhouse teams with the rest of the world.

There’s a grain of truth in Djordjevic statement.

In their game, Gilas Pilipinas posted its first lead of the tournament, 9-7, before the Serbians went full blast, crushing the morale of the Filipinos in the second quarter before completely burying them in the third and fourth periods.

Naturalized player Andray Blatche was not effective as NBA stars Nemanja Bjelica, Nikola Jovic and Bogdan Bogdanovic torched him on both ends of the floor with all-around basketball brilliance.

Blatche finished the night with a forgettable five points in 28 minutes of action.

“I think you showed some balance and quickness, but obviously, you’re missing quality and these two games are the results of that,” said Djordjevic, the playmaker of the great Yugoslavian team that won the gold medal in the World Cup in 1998 and silver medal in the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

Prior to that embarrassing 59-point crushing, Gilas Pilipinas was clobbered by Italy, 108-62, in the opener of this prestigious 32-nation tournament at the GBA International Sports and Cultural Arena here.

NBA stars Danilo Gallinari and Marco Belinelli made their presence felt for the Italians, who limited the Filipinos to only eight points in the first period en route to a 46-point victory.

Djordjevic the results should serve as a lesson to the Filipinos if they want to make it big in the international arena.

“Two European top teams who know how to play tough, physical basketball,” he said. “These are the results you have to think about in the future.”