Gilas Pilipinas had the noble intention of restoring the Philippines’ old basketball glory on the Asian level.
However, circumstances during its buildup and the sustained development of continental rivals found Gilas wanting.
The vision of ending a four-decade title drought remained nothing but a mere dream on Wednesday when the Filipinos hit the end of the road in their 2025 FIBA Asia Cup journey.
Other than the moral victory of Gilas’ return to the quarterfinal after missing the cut in the 2022 edition, the Philippines will return home from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia empty-handed.
Missing in the Filipinos’ flight back home is the shiny championship trophy -- an all too familiar scene since winning it all back in 1985.
“And so, you know, the tournament is over for us. In the big scheme of things, we're not pleased with what happened,” Gilas head coach Tim Cone said following a heartbreaking but not surprising 60-84 demolition under the might of three-peat-seeking Australia Wednesday night at the King Abdullah City.
Seven three-pointers rained down by the Boomers in the first quarter were all it took for Gilas to crumble in front of the mostly Filipino crowd, which trooped to the venue hoping for a miracle that never came.
“This is a great team to be around. And I'm really proud and honored to be on this team and with these guys,” Cone said.
“But tonight, was not a good performance for us.”