Justin Brownlee leads Gilas Pilipinas’ rout of host Latvia to open the Filipinos’ Fiba OQT marketing campaign. –FIBA PHOTO
SCHEDULE: Gilas Pilipinas at Fiba OQT in Riga, Latvia
Nationwide coach Tim Cone has made one factor clear months earlier than the tall order Gilas Pilipinas must hurdle within the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Event (OQT) in Latvia.
“I’m an enormous believer that there are all the time actually exhausting issues to do. However nothing’s inconceivable,” he had informed the Inquirer.
The architect behind final 12 months’s golden romp within the Asian Video games in China put that mantra to the check as soon as once more on Thursday morning in Manila, when the Philippines wakes as much as the results of its Nationwide squad opening its OQT stint in opposition to Latvia and its dwelling crowd at Area Riga.
READ: Gilas Pilipinas stuns world No. 6 Latvia to open Fiba OQT bid
In opposition to overwhelming odds, Cone had already requested his crew—led by the indefatigable Justin Brownlee, the World Cup-tested duo of June Mar Fajardo and Japeth Aguilar, and younger cornerstones Kai Sotto and Dwight Ramos—to have the rapid objective of constructing the knockout crossover, the place they’ve a greater likelihood of tabbing an Olympic berth.
“We’re not right here to win a recreation. We’re right here to win a event. We’re right here to win the entire thing,” he was quoted saying throughout follow in a narrative printed by the PBA web site.
“Shedding to [Latvia] doesn’t get us knocked out. However dropping—if we enable that first one to have an effect on us in the second (in opposition to Georgia), then we’re gonna be knocked out,” he added.
READ: Tim Cone dismisses notion that Gilas not massive, quick, sturdy sufficient
Cone’s outlook stands out as the solely logical step for the No. 37-ranked Philippines to take, contemplating how excessive Latvia is within the international basketball leaderboard.
The hosts are ranked sixth on the planet and lived as much as that lofty billing with an 83-55 whipping of world No. 23 Georgia in Group A.
So hapless had been the Jvarosnebi that nationwide coach Aleksandar Dzikic and Duda Sanadze had little or no to say about their efficiency.
Latvians flex may
“We didn’t reply effectively sufficient and lengthy sufficient to their physicality and this consequence in the long run is definitely fairly embarrassing, to be sincere,” mentioned Dzikic.
“[W]e’re very disillusioned. The rating shouldn’t be what we’re and what we labored [for]. We labored exhausting these previous days and a few weeks, however this rating’s not us. From the underside of our hearts, I simply wish to apologize for our efforts—to our followers and households—as a result of this isn’t actually us,” Sanadze mentioned.
Cone and his fees had been witnesses to the cruel Latvian show. And so Gilas additionally is aware of how deflated the Georgians are.
And that might spell bother for the Filipinos, too, as meaning the Jvarosnebi will probably be dead-set on redeeming themselves of their conflict set 8:30 p.m. on Thursday (Manila time).
“If we will beat a type of two groups (Latvia or Georgia), meaning we will compete within the crossover, [and] you by no means know from there,” Cone mentioned.
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The Philippines will want no less than a win over Georgia to enhance its possibilities of making the following section, the place they might both play Cameroon, Montenegro, or Brazil.