Nationals can’t afford another bum start
Guard Dwight Ramos knows exactly where Gilas Pilipinas stands after a second straight loss in the Fiba Asia Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Ramos barely dwelled on the 94-86 defeat at the hands of the New Zealand Tall Blacks on Thursday night. Instead, he chose to look ahead and work on what they have control of (see related story on this page).
“We just have to keep playing, keep trying to get to that level,” the sharpshooting guard said, referring to playing past the group phase as they close out against Iraq on Saturday afternoon (Manila time). “It’s pretty much win or go home at this point.
“We really need to win this game [vs. Iraq]. That’s all that’s in my mind right now.”
Ramos did all he could to help Gilas turn the tables against New Zealand, finishing with 19 points, four rebounds and two steals.
Gilas has lost to New Zealand for the second straight time since the third window of the tourney’s qualifiers, but what ticked Ramos off even more was the idea that they could’ve won over the Tall Blacks.
If not for another bum start like the one they had against Chinese-Taipei on opening day.
“I guess we played harder in the second half,” he said. “In the first half, we made a lot of mistakes that we knew we were supposed to look out for, but we still made them.
“I still think it was a better effort than against Chinese Taipei,” he went on. “They (Kiwis) are just a good team. It was a good game, we came back, but they’re [a] top-of-the-world team.”
Ramos was on the money regarding the Philippines’ status. Because of the New Zealand loss, Gilas put itself in a must-win situation on Saturday against Iraq.
Chris Newsome, who finished with eight points and four assists in the loss, shared the same sentiments as Ramos and perhaps the entire Gilas locker room.
“We have no room for mistakes,” Newsome said.
Indeed. They don’t.
