Lesson learned for Gilas Pilipinas Girls

Gilas Pilipinas Girls suffered a culture shock with the quality of competition in Division A following a sixth-place finish in the FIBA U16 Asia Cup in Seremban, Malaysia.

Gilas coach Julie Amos said seeing other teams execute cleaner and more disciplined plays made them realize there is still a lot more for them to improve as they retained their Division A status.

The Philippines wrapped up its campaign with a sorry 72-103 loss to Chinese Taipei in the classification match last Saturday at the Arena Seremban.

Amos, who led the National Capital Region to a Palarong Pambansa gold medal last May, admitted they were simply outclassed by the Taiwanese, who registered 48 percent shooting clip in the classification match.

“It's really an eye-opener. I saw the other teams from other countries and their systems are so good,” Amos said.

“It's just simple things. You just have to run, maximize your advantage, and then play unselfishly.”

“So for our girls, it was a culture shock because they thought it was that easy. But when they realized how important ball movement is, the flow of our system got better.”

The Philippines got a rude awakening in the Asia Cup after lopsided losses to Australia, 42-123, and the Taiwanese, 48-74, in its first two games in Group A.

It took a buzzer-beater from Tiffany Reyes to clinch a 77-75 win over South Korea to retain their spot in Division A and advance to the playoff round.

But the Filipina cagers were once again shell-shocked, absorbing a 50-82 loss to powerhouse China to deny them a spot in the semifinal and a direct berth for the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup in the Czech Republic next year.

Still, the Gilas Girls have gems in their ranks who could serve as the foundation of their program.

Ella Smith finished the Asia Cup with 11.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists in five games while Makena Ramos had double digits as well, averaging 10.4 rebounds, 4.4 boards and 2.2 dimes.

Amos said they are now focusing on recruitment to make sure they will field a strong squad for the U18 Asia Cup next year while retaining key players from the U16 team.

The Australians, Chinese and Japan are expected to field their stronger and taller squads along with the likes of New Zealand and South Korea.