Disappointed is an understatement with regards to what Dwight Ramos was feeling for the past few days.
Since coming back home to the Philippines back in 2019, the 6-foot-5 utility player had always looked forward to facing the best competition possible.
However, a groin injury he sustained during Gilas-Korea II forced the 22-year-old Ramos out of the biggest tournament Gilas Pilipinas has for the year — the 2021 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament – Belgrade.
But instead of sulking, Ramos, the leading scorer of Gilas in the Asia Cup Qualifiers, used the Philippines’ games against Serbia and the Dominican Republic to learn more about the game and his team albeit from a different perspective.
“We learned a lot from these two games.
“We are still very young. So, it ended up with a lot of basketball lessons on the court and off the court. But, it was an excellent learning experience,” Ramos told FIBA.
The young Filipinos took Serbia to the limit last Thursday, only losing by seven points, 76-83.
During the next day, Gilas were in control of the Dominican Republic in the first half. However, the Dominicans showed their command of the game in the second half that led to a 67-94 whipping.
Despite going 0-2 in the OQT, it had still been a memorable month for Ramos and Gilas as they were able to test themselves against the best teams in Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
And this exposure is crucial for the team’s buildup to the 2023 Worlds, according to Ramos.
Photo from FIBA.Basketball
“The next thing for us is the Asia Cup in Indonesia this August. We will go there and try to continue working on our stuff, get better,” said Ramos. “But yes, that’s just one checkpoint on the road to FIBA World Cup 2023.
“We’ll take one step at a time, continue to grow, and be ready to put on a show at that tournament in 2023. I think we show some hint of the future, show how good we can be. Going forward, we keep getting support from our Gilas fans,” the current Ateneo Blue Eagle furthered.
“By 2023, we will be ready, stadiums will be packed, and hopefully, we will play some good basketball.”
