Teamwork, shooting key Gilas Women’s surge
‘My teammates always do a good job finding me so all I have to do is finish, I just attack the basketball and know they have my back to feed the ball.’
‘My teammates always do a good job finding me so all I have to do is finish, I just attack the basketball and know they have my back to feed the ball.’
Teamwork and shooting are serving as the keys to Gilas Pilipinas’ surge in the FIBA U18 Women’s Asia Cup Division B run in Shenzhen, China.
Gilas coach Julie Amos said their ball movement allowed them to get high-percentage shots that led to back-to-back victories.
The Philippines opened its campaign with a 141-18 victory over lowly Maldives before booking an 89-63 victory over Lebanon at the Futian Sports Park for a 2-0 card and a spot in the semifinals.
But more than that, they are now two wins away from being promoted to the Division A of the continental ranking.
“All of our players are unselfish, they attack, look for an open person and then rotate. Nobody wants to score, they want to attack for their teammates to score and that’s one thing we enjoy especially when our shots are sinking, like all those threes at the end,” Amos said.
“Players like Naomi (Panganiban) and Gabriella (Ramos), are two very special players, but so is the entire team.”
The Filipinas have been displaying their dominance in the early stretch of this prestigious event.
In fact, Gilas Women currently lead the scoring, rebounding and assists departments with averages of 115 points, 68.5 rebounds, and 26 assists.
Panganiban leads the Philippines with 17.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in two games while Ramos is not far behind with 12.5 points, 14.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists norms in two matches.
The Philippines will face the winner between Samoa and Maldives in the semifinal on Saturday for a chance to see action in the final and redeem itself from a third-place finish in the 2022 edition in India.
Panganiban said they are upbeat over their chances, knowing that they have what it takes to clinch the title and retain their spot in Division A.
“My teammates always do a good job finding me so all I have to do is finish, I just attack the basketball and know they have my back to feed the ball,” Panganiban said.
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