Gilas Pilipinas head coach Yeng Guiao rued a litany of problems as the Philippines received a harsh 46-point beatdown at the hands of Italy in the opening salvo of the 2019 FIBA World Cup Saturday night in Foshan, China.
The outspoken mentor pointed out the Filipino dribblers’ carelessness in handling the ball and their bad shooting night from beyond the arc, which he previously emphasized as a major key in their World Cup quest.
Gilas committed a total of 23 turnovers which the opposition turned into 34 easy points. It also only made three of the 23 attempts it took from the outside. Gilas missed 17 straight treys before Kiefer Ravena made one with 7:01 left to play.
“Our problem was we had early turnovers – we fed their runs with our own turnovers,” said Guiao, as Italy started the game 28-4.
“And we couldn’t make our outside shots which, to me, was really key to beating a big team like Italy.”
Guiao additionally lamented their defense, especially in terms of ball movement reaction. The Italians’ crisp passing led to 30 assists, which enabled them to shoot 58.2-percent from the field – including 15 made triples.
“Well, they moved the ball really well. Anywhere or everywhere the ball lands is a threat, so we just need to keep recovering to whoever is going to catch that ball. The problem there is we didn’t have that kind of speed,” he said. “There is always a problem when you rotate and your bigs are not able to keep up with that kind of rotation. Somebody is always going to be open on the third, fourth, or maybe on the fifth pass.
“Whereas on the other hand, they just kept switching us. Their guards could guard our bigs and their bigs could guard our guards,” added Guiao.
“It’s just really a dead end for us, especially if you’re not making your three-point shot.”
Guiao admitted that he and the Nationals are disappointed with the result, but they now look forward to Monday’s game versus Serbia. However, they are also bracing for the worst when they take on the title favorites.
The Serbians beat Angola earlier in the day, 105-59, in a game that saw them shoot 65 percent from the field plus a 20-of-25 shooting clip from deep. For Guiao, that kind of outside shooting might be a bigger problem for Gilas.
“Certainly that’s a big worry, especially with their bigs also being able to shoot that three. [Nikola] Jokic and the rest of those guys can shoot from anywhere on the floor, so if we had that problem with Italy, that’s also going to be the same problem – probably even worse problem – against Serbia,” Guiao said.
“We have a day to find some adjustments, make some improvements. We’ll see on Monday. But I guess we just have to gather ourselves again and be able to recover physically, and be able to find additional motivation to be able to play Serbia.”
