Heading into their tuneup match against Montenegro’s Black Mountains, Gilas Pilipinas’ head coach, Chot Reyes, made sure to emphasize to his players that this encounter stands as their true significant test in preparation for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.
“Well, just like what we talked about before the game, this game really made us feel that we are in the World Cup.
“The kind of team we are playing, they’ve been a team for a very long time with great talent. They have a smooth system both offensively and defensively,” said Reyes.
Over the past few months, Gilas had been facing youth teams, B-squads, and non-World Cup nations as part of their preparations for the global event. Their initial significant exhibition game was against the Ivory Coast’s Elephants, which the national team convincingly won, securing an 85-62 victory.
However, on Sunday evening, they were up against the 18th-ranked team in the world.
Throughout the first half, the Filipino team managed to keep up with the Montenegrins, even leading 19-16 by the end of the opening 10 minutes.
Nonetheless, come halftime, Boško Radović unleashed his team, including two-time NBA All-Star Nikola Vucevic.
“I like how we competed with them for the entire first half. Just had a letdown defensively in that third quarter,” he lamented.
“When we started the third quarter with three straight turnovers then they scored two three-pointers for an 8-0 run, that turned the tide. When we give good quality teams like Montenegro a lead like that, it will be tough to recover,” Reyes continued as the visitors led 76-64 at the end of the third and raised their cushion to as high as 20 in the final frame with a barrage of threes.
“That’s why we play these games so we can improve.”
Vucevic concluded the game with 18 points and nine rebounds. Floor stretchers Vladimir Mihailovic and Bojan Dubljevic contributed 16 and 12 points, respectively.
The game was missing Gilas’ big men. Although ending up with 19 points, 11 of which were in “garbage time,” June Mar Fajardo once again grappled with fouls. Japeth Aguilar has yet to find his rhythm, while Kai Sotto remained scoreless, with just one rebound in 14 minutes of play. The sole bright spot was AJ Edu, who accrued six points and eight rebounds.
“They have to help on penetration, protect the rim, and still close out on their men when they are shooting from the outside. But it’s not totally their responsibility, their teammates must help as well and rotate to shut those guys down,” opined Reyes.
On Monday, Gilas will conclude their tuneup series against Mexico, hoping that everything aligns as the World Cup is a mere four days away.
