YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET
From a dominant international debut last summer to springing surprises in Latvia back in July, this edition of Gilas Pilipinas has been truly special.
And on Thursday night, faced with the chance of making history once more, the Nationals turned in another spectacular performance by outlasting New Zealand, 93-89, in the Fiba Asia Cup Qualifiers at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Justin Brownlee, Kai Sotto, Scottie Thompson and Chris Newsome joined hands in a cutthroat fightback in the third, where the hosts manufactured the cushion they needed to survive against the tall and physical Kiwis and beat them for just the first time in five meetings on the Fiba stage.
“I mean, I’ve [received] so many ‘good lucks’ today I can’t tell you how many I had throughout the day,” national coach Tim Cone said shortly after the triumph over the highly favored foe fashioned before 16,666 screaming fans.
“There was a lot of attention on the game and our guys were, you know, pressured to win. [But] they found a way and I’m proud of them,” he added.
After trailing by as many as nine points early, the Nationals rediscovered their groove and roughened the Tall Blacks heading into the final two frames.
Sotto turned in a near triple-double of 19 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists to backstop Brownlee’s 26 points.
Thompson played his first Gilas game back since February with aplomb, adding 12 to the scoring effort. Dwight Ramos chipped in a quiet 11.
Dagger triple
And there was Newsome, who preserved all his teammates’ heroics with a dagger three that came toward the end of a performance highlighted by his defensive work against New Zealand top gun Corey Webster all night long.
“It was a tough one. Man, they are good—they are really good,” Cone said of the Kiwis. “They are incredibly physical and I think that was the No. 1 thing that we had to battle through.
“So to overcome that and find a way to win was really special.”
While the triumph snaps the Kiwis’ long mastery of the Philippines and adds to the group’s growing list of unforgettable moments, it also gives Cone even more reasons to be excited.
“We haven’t seen our best team yet and yet we’ve been able to beat No. 6 and No. 22,” Cone said with a smile, referring to the world rankings of Latvia, which the Philippines beat in an Olympic qualifier in their home court, and New Zealand.
“We’re still trying to see exactly where we can go—and how far we can go.”
LA Tenorio, a former program fixture who is now serving as Cone’s assistant, perhaps provided the best kind of context from which the victory should be viewed from.
“There’s a lot of good things happening with this core group beating Latvia in the OQT and New Zealand for the first time. So the future of Philippine basketball is [promising],” he said in a separate chat.
“And it’s really the games like this that give boost to the confidence to the players and the team. They’re buying into the system and that’s the most important thing,” he added.
