Phl looks forward to ‘winnable’ games

The Philippines team's CJ Perez bravely takes on Serbia's Stefan Jovic. (Fiba)

FOSHAN, China—For Yeng Guiao, this is not the time to play the blame game.

After absorbing a pair of humiliating losses, the Philippine team coach quickly addressed their miscues, admitting that Andray Blatche and the rest of the squad are not playing up to par in the FIBA World Cup here.

Blatche was supposed to be the leader of the team. But the New York native who got naturalized in 2014 struggled with nine turnovers in their 62-108 loss to Italy Saturday, followed by another forgettable five-point performance in a 67-126 annihilation by Serbia Monday at the GBA International Sports and Cultural Center here.

Guiao admitted they have been relying on Blatche too much.

“He’s our leader. We look to him to tide us over during difficult times,” said Guiao, obviously alarmed over Blatche’s struggle.

Blatche is not the only Filipino performing below expectations.

Skipper Gabe Norwood and Japeth Aguilar have yet to produce anything significant while rotation players Troy Rosario, Roger Pogoy, Kiefer Ravena and Raymond Almazan are being awaited to make an impact.

Filipinos in China support the Phl team despite the lopsided results. (Fiba)

“Of course, we’re all disappointed,” he said. “But it’s not time to find blame on anybody. There are still some games to play. The best thing to do now is to regroup and focus on playing better in the next few games, which I think are winnable games.”

The Philippines will play their last Group D match against Angola at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday.