No time to weep

Going to Beijing, we’re looking forward to playing the teams that are on the same level of play with us

YENG Guiao and Gilas Pilipinas have to move on from a 0-3 campaign in the group stage. AFP

FOSHAN, China — The pain in its heart has yet to subside, but Gilas Pilipinas already boarded a four-hour flight to the Chinese capital of Beijing to confront dangerous Tunisia in the classification phase for 17th to 32nd places of the International Basketball Association (FIBA) Basketball World Cup on Friday at the Wukesong Arena.

Action kicks off at 8 p.m. with the Nationals looking to slay the ghost of their embarrassing performance to Italy, Serbia and Angola in the first round of this prestigious 32-nation tournament.

Gilas head coach Yeng Guiao said his wards are looking for revenge, especially after a massive collapse against the Angolans that resulted to an 81-84 loss in overtime late Wednesday at the GBA International Sport and Cultural Center here.

In that game, the Nationals came in oozing with confidence despite suffering a 46-point beating from Italy and record 59-point battering from Serbia in the first four days of action.

But the victory everybody was waiting for didn’t come.

After burying the game-tying trey, rookie CJ Perez committed a massive blunder after failing to identify the game clock in the final 5.2 seconds of regulation.

Then, Angolan journeyman Yanick Moreira and naturalized player Regie Moore completely took over in overtime, reducing the Filipinos into a huge mass of tears.

Guiao said the loss is far more painful than that of Italy and Serbia — two prolific European teams whose standards of basketball are light years away from Filipinos.

“Although we lost this one, I felt that we really had a good chance to win it. As they say, it’s just the breaks of the game,” said Guiao, adding that the setback sent young player Kiefer Ravena to tears.

“We lost the breaks to a bigger team and, probably, put together longer than we have been.”

But Gilas Pilipinas has no more time to weep.

Guiao said they have to get back on track, especially since they are stacked against two very good teams in Tunisia and Iran in the classification match for 17th to 32nd places.

Tunisia, however, will not be an easy foe.

The African heavyweight will parade Salah Mejri, naturalized player Michael Roll and Makram Ben Romdhane together with seasoned veterans like Omar Abada and Mourad El Mabrouk.

Mejri is a 7-foot-2 center for the Dallas Mavericks while Roll was born and raised in the United States and played for University of California Los Angeles before campaigning in various club tourneys in Israel, Turkey and Egypt.

Of course, Ben Romdhane is also a man to watch as he serves as the heart and soul of this Tunisian squad.

Mejri scored 22 points while Roll and Ben Romdhane added 16 markers apiece to power Tunisia to a 79-67 win over Hamed Haddadi, Sahmad Nikhah Bahrami and the Iranians in the first round.

“Going to Beijing, we’re looking forward to playing the teams that are on the same level of play with us,” Guiao said, adding that a sweep of classification will give them a fighting chance of snatching the elusive spot in the Tokyo Olympics next year, especially after China lost to Venezuela later in the day.

“Whatever happens in that game, want to improve our ranking so whichever way we can, whichever possibility is achievable, then we’ll go for it, especially now that the guys are already feeling comfortable competing in the world stage.”

Guiao admitted that his wards would be marching to the second round with low morale.

In fact, aside from Ravena crying after missing the potential game-winning shot in overtime against Angola, almost all of his players, including naturalized player Andray Blatche, skipper Gabe Norwood and veterans Paul Lee and June Mar Fajardo, are nursing broken hearts.

Still, Guiao doesn’t want emotions to affect their performance.

“It’s not going to help if you focus on those things,” said Guiao, who is known as the tough-talking coach of NLEX in the Philippine Basketball Association.

“I told them not to worry. As I’ve said, all they have to do is to play. They don’t have to answer for anything. When we get back to Manila, I will be the one to explain to anyone who will question our performance here.”