Batang Gilas meets ‘modest objective’

Batang Gilas may have failed to complete its mission, but it fulfilled its “modest objective” of coming up with a decent finish in the FIBA U17 World Cup that came to a close Tuesday in Sta. Fe, Argentina.

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) deputy executive director Butch Antonio said the federation is beaming with pride after the national youth squad finished 13th out of 16 competing countries.

The world joust had been a rollercoaster campaign for the Nationals.

Ranked no. 34 in the world, Batang Gilas suffered massive setback to powerhouse Croatia, European champion France and home team Argentina and the group stage.

Then, they bowed to the world’s best team in Canada in the Round of 16 to crash to the battle for 9th to 12th places, where they surrendered to African champion Mali.

With nothing to gain but pride, the Philippines refused to bow as it emerged victorious over Egypt and New Zealand to avoid a humiliating last-place finish.

Antonio said they are glad over the fighting heart that the boys displayed.

“Everybody is proud of what the Batang Gilas had achieved in the world stage,” Antonio told Tribune in a telephone conversation.

“We tip our hats to coach Mike Oliver, assistant coach Josh Reyes and the rest of the team.”

Antonio said they are not expecting the squad to bring home the crown as their mere presence against the world’s best young players is already a major achievement.

“Yes, we have ambitions, but we also have modest objectives,” said Antonio, who was part of the youth squad that placed 15th out of 16 competitors in 2014 in Dubai.

“We achieved that modest objective. We improved our placing from 2014 so we have to commend Batang Gilas for a mission accomplished.”

Antonio added that the silver lining is that the country’s gem of a talent in 7-foot-1 Kai Sotto was given the opportunity to test his skills against the world’s best young players, some of them are future NBA bidders.

“Kai is special not only to the Gilas program, but also to Philippine basketball in general,” he said.