AJ Edu continues to shine as a bright spot for Gilas Pilipinas, a team that has now suffered four consecutive losses in the ongoing FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.
The 23-year-old power forward, who has earned the respect of NBA stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Bruno Fernando, once again delivered solid numbers for the Philippines in their 68-87 loss against South Sudan during the classification phase.
Edu recorded a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds, along with two assists, a steal, and a block, contributing significantly for a struggling Gilas squad against the Bright Stars.
“That’s cool man. I try to put my heart out there. With the rebounds, my mentality is to go for everyone,” said Edu after the loss that ended the Philippines’ hopes of gaining an outright spot in the Paris Olympics.
“That’s really cool and hopefully, people have been talking about my defense. I showed people what I can do on offense as well,” he added.
The Philippines nearly closed the gap on South Sudan and came within four points, with the score at 56-60, after Edu executed a lob pass to his frontcourt partner Kai Sotto, who then dunked it with 7:28 remaining in the game.
However, the Bright Stars effectively shifted gears to fend off Gilas Pilipinas and secure their second win in the global hoops tournament.
“Tough game. They shot really well. They kind of took us by surprise how well they shot it. They’re a very physical team as well, so they definitely used that as well,” said the Toyama slotman as South Sudan shot 41-percent from the field.
“Took us a while to figure out how to defend against the way they were executing. Eventually, we did and we were right there in the end. Couple of things, couple turnovers, couple of missed shots and couple big shots from them. [Things] Just didn’t pan out our way.”
Edu is now preparing to face a tall China squad featuring players like Zhou Qi, Wang Zhelin, and NBA star Kyle Anderson. He hopes to help Gilas Pilipinas finally secure an elusive victory against their Asian rival.
“They’re a pretty tall team. We’re gonna have to match up against their big men, but they’re confident as they’re coming off a win, so we just have to give it our all. It’s as simple as that.”
