Ramos: We’ll see them again

Dwight Ramos was disappointed over Gilas Pilipinas’ 60-84 loss to Australia in the quarterfinals of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup in Jeddah late Wednesday.

But for him, the battle has just begun.

The Filipino-American guard vowed to show up with a more improved performance when they lock horns with the Boomers again in the second window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers in February.

Gilas will open their campaign against Guam in the first window in November before facing New Zealand and Australia in the second window in February and March, giving it a good chance to exact payback against two teams that derailed their title bid in the Asia Cup.

Ramos said they still have a lot of room for improvement.

“It’ll come in time. We’re just trying to get comfortable with each other and the system and we’ll see them again in February,” Ramos, who plays professional ball in Japan.

“I think, for the whole tournament we struggled shooting the three but when we get back together again in November, we’ll switch things up and address our defense.”

Against reigning champion Australia, the Filipinos were greatly dominated.

Naturalized player Justin Brownlee was handicapped from start to finish, allowing Kevin Quiambao and Ramos to pick up the offensive cudgels as they finished with 17 and 15 points, respectively.

Ramos stressed that they need to do a better job next time, especially when they face the men from Down Under anew in the World Cup qualifiers.

“After every game I always think about my mistakes. I want to learn and get better,” Ramos said.

“I was hoping we could get this game and get to the semis.”