The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) voiced its displeasure over the performance of Gilas Pilipinas in the 3x3 men’s and women’s events of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.

SBP executive director Erika Dy told DAILY TRIBUNE that “we are really disappointed” over the Filipino cagers’ performance as they will be flying home without a medal from the prestigious biennial meet.

Composed of naturalized player Ange Kouame, Joseph Eriobu, Joseph Sedurifa and Janrey Pasaol, Gilas Pilipinas ended up empty-handed after absorbing a heartbreaking 19-21 loss to Malaysia in the men's 3x3 semifinals on Thursday at the Nimibutr Stadium in Bangkok.

Before that, they suffered a 20-21 loss to Singapore in the semifinals that relegated them to the bronze medal match against the Malaysians.

It was the first time for the Filipinos to miss the medal podium since the event was introduced in the SEA Games in Manila in 2019. Gilas Pilipinas won the gold medal at home, bronze in Hanoi in 2021 and silver in Phnom Penh in 2023, prompting basketball-loving Filipinos to raise their expectations on the squad coached by Patrick Fran with Ronnie Magsanoc as program director that has a goal of making it to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

“We are really disappointed,” Dy said, hinting at launching a revamp of the program. 

“We obviously have to effect changes to build a solid 3x3 program. Other countries are investing heavily in it, even prioritizing it over our 5x5 program. We have to, and we will invest more in 3x3 without giving up our 5x5 program. We will find the balance that will allow us to be successful in both.”

Even Kouame, a proven winner at Ateneo de Manila University, was also unhappy over how they performed.

“I don’t have any words right now except that we tried to get the win,” the 6-foot-10 Ivorian-born star said. 

“But as they say, things happen.”

Also failing to make the grade was the Gilas Women squad composed of Mikka Cacho, Kaye Pingol, Reynalyn Ferrer, and Jhazmin Joson as it suffered back-to-back losses to Indonesia, 15-21, and Malaysia, 19-21, to bomb out of the competition.

Dy said they trained the team all year long and even flew in a Serbian coach who will prepare them for the SEA Games encounter. Unfortunately, they failed to live above expectations as they absorbed narrow losses to their Southeast Asian rivals en route to missing the bus headed for the semifinals.

“Our women’s team has the same lineup, except for Clarin, who is still recovering from ACL (anterior cruciate ligament),” said Dy, a former star player at Ateneo, referring to the team that finished top four in the FIBA Asia Cup 3x3 competition.

“We kept the team year-round and joined in as many tournaments as we could. We even flew in a Serbian coach to prepare them for the SEA Games. But we didn’t even make the semis.” 

“That’s the nature of 3x3 competition; the game is made for upsets. Most of the time, we are the ones who pull off an upset of the European and stronger Asian teams. It just so happened that we were the ones getting upset here in the SEA Games.”