Just play better.
Gilas Pilipinas has no other way but to come up with a near-perfect game moving forward to stay in the hunt for the coveted crown in the 33rd FIBA Asia Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
No more of the foul-riddled and turnover-plagued outing that sent the Gilas reeling to a stinging opening day loss in front of a huge Filipino crowd early Wednesday at the King Abdullah Sports City.
Gilas coach Tim Cone felt Gilas was overeager to win over Chinese Taipei, that it played out of system basketball and was too aggressive defensively.
A jittery start, compounded by 26 fouls and 16 errors, doomed Gilas in an 87-95 defeat to the Taiwanese.
The loss has put the Filipinos in a must-win situation in the prestigious continental tournament in Group D, starting with New Zealand, which Gilas is playing as of press time.
“I think last game, we just wanted it too badly, and that’s why we gave up so many free throws. And that’s too uncharacteristic of us as a team,” Cone said.
Gilas’ sticky defense was too close for comfort as the Nationals were whistled for too many fouls.
Even naturalized player Justin Brownlee fouled out with four minutes left in the final canto in the middle of Gilas’ desperate run to bridge the gap that went as big as 17 points in the first quarter.
Chinese Taipei converted 27 of its 35 free throw attempts.
“I think we just wanted it too badly and let our enthusiasm get ahead of our execution,” Cone lamented.
The decorated mentor admitted that the sting of the loss still lingers.
“I’m probably the most devastated guy in the room. I take losses really hard. You’d think I’d be able to handle them better after all these years of coaching,” Cone added.
“National team’s a whole different thing. When you don’t rise up to expectations, it’s very painful, very hurtful and it’s hard to get over.”
But Gilas has no time to cry over spilled milk.
What matters now is for Gilas to regain its confidence and composure quickly to get on the right track.
“But the bottom line is, if I do that, if we do that, then we’re just making it worse for ourselves going into our next game. We gotta own that game,” Cone said.
After the Tall Blacks, Gilas will play Iraq on Saturday to close its group stage campaign.
The top teams in the four groups after the round will advance into the quarterfinals, while the second and third-ranked squads square off in the knockout stage for a spot in the Last Eight.
Gilas has not won the Asian Cup title since 1985.