AFTER two games, CJ Perez has been the most consistent performer for Gilas Pilipinas. AFP

FOSHAN, China — After suffering a pair of embarrassing losses, Gilas Pilipinas tries to salvage some measure of pride and respect when it clashes with dangerous Angola in the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Basketball World Cup on Wednesday at the GBA International Sports and Cultural Center here.

Gilas march to warzone at 3:30 p.m., looking to bury the painful memories of their humiliating 59-point setback from the hands of Serbia — the fourth-best team in the world — late Monday, 67-126.

With NBA campaigners Nemanja Bjelica, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Nikola Jokic and Boban Marjanovic at the attack zone, the Serbians exposed a can of worms in the basketball system of the Filipinos as they torched Gilas Pilipinas in the second period en route to the massive victory.

The 59-point deficit is the largest losing margin of the national men’s basketball team since the 1978 World Cup in Manila, where Soviet Union (110-63) and Brazil (119-72) defeated the Philippines by 47 points.

It was also the largest winning margin in this tournament, surpassing the 54-point victory of Lithuania over Senegal, 101-47, in the second day of action in Dongguan.

With such embarrassing result that came at the heels of a 46-point debacle to Italy in the opener, 62-108, head coach Yeng Guiao said it is only fitting for them to bounce back and redeem their pride against the Angolans, who are three rungs below them in the latest FIBA world ranking.

“Of course, I’m disappointed,” said Guiao following their loss to Serbia.

“But I don’t want this game or our previous game against Italy get into the way of us still trying to play good in the next few games. We still have one more game in the first round and two more games in the classification. We might as well go full blast and give everything we have.”

The Angolans are 11-time African champions and have already seen action in the Olympics five times.

Their coach is Will Voigt, an American journeyman who led Nigeria in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.

Reports have it that the 43-year-old Voigt is familiar to the Philippine brand of basketball. In fact, he was strongly considered to serve as head coach of TNT KaTropa in the Philippine Basketball Association after Filipino coach Ariel Vanguardia submitted his resume to TNT KaTropa governor Ricky Vargas.

He, however, failed to get the job as the KaTropa tapped Mark Dickel of New Zealand as active consultant, instead.

Voigt will be leading an Angolan squad that is powered by Yanick Moreira, Leonel Paulo and Carlos Morais.

Moreira, who played in club tourneys in Italy, Russia, Spain and Iran, delivered 15 points while Paulo and Morais chipped in 12 and 10 markers, respectively, in the Angolans’ 61-92 loss to Italy.

“It’s going to be really tight,” Guiao said.

“I feel that Angola is a strong team. Since Italy and Serbia have already classified themselves as not on our level, I guess Angola and the Philippines can match up well.”

“Angola also has the size. They have the strength. They also have the veteran experience. Some of their players played in Euroleague and Division I basketball. So it’s going to be a tough matchup for us, especially coming from tough losses.”

But a major challenge for Guiao is how to uplift the morale of his team.

Naturalized player Andray Blatche, for instance, was at his lowest after finishing only five points, six assists and four rebounds in 28 minutes of action against Serbia.

Kiefer Ravena, Japeth Aguilar, Troy Rosario and skipper Gabe Norwood were also crushed as they failed to contribute anything significant for Gilas Pilipinas in their first two matches, sparking a howl of protest from rabid basketball observers and critics back home.

Guiao said raising the morale of his wards heading into their game against Angola would be on top of his order of business.

“We have to lift up the spirits of the guys and be able to play well in the next game,” said Guiao, whose wards are still in contention for an outright Olympic berth should they sweep their remaining games.