Despite a sour end to their 2021 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament-Belgrade campaign, Gilas Pilipinas still has a lot to be proud about.
And for Jordan Heading, the only player in the young Gilas team that is considered as a “pro” player, he hopes that they were able to prove that they belong in the world stage.
“Obviously our goal was to win games. But all in all, we wanted to compete and show that we belong on the world stage.
“None of us have experienced this high level of basketball yet so obviously we’re going to take a lot of lessons with us,” said the 25-year-old Fil-Australian combo guard.
Since May, this iteration has been together inside numerous bubbles and away from their families as they prepared for two tournaments — the Asia Cup Qualifiers in Clark and the OQT.
In Clark, the team showed that it belongs in the upper echelon of Asian basketball as it swept the leg — including a couple of wins against world no. 30 in Korea.
It did not stop there as before they left for Serbia, this team also figured in a 79-all draw in a tuneup game against world no. 29 China.
Then up against world no. 19 Dominican Republic, Gilas were in control in the first 20 minutes before the Dominicans stepped on the pedal in the second half to send the Filipinos home, 67-94.
Maybe, fatigue finally got the best of the team. Or maybe, their youth went up against them.
For Heading though, it was their bevy of turnovers and missed free throws, as well as defensive lapses that doomed them.
“I mean the Dominican Republic is such a tough team. I don’t think we kept the ball in front like we needed to. They’re able to get into the paint and finish with ease, or kick out and just hit open threes,” lamented Heading, who averaged a team-high 14.5 points for Gilas in the OQT.
“Obviously, their percentage was off the charts because they were just open shots. And we’re not going to win ballgames if we play defense like that,” the 6-foot-2 lefty sniper continued.
“We’re gonna have to learn from that and take that with us.”
Still, it is a long road for this batch of Gilas as there are still a lot of games ahead and lessons to be learned.
There’s the Asia Cup proper, the World Cup Qualifiers, the Southeast Asian Games, and the Asian Games happening in the next year.
And all of this is part of the buildup to the 2023 World Cup.
“We just wanted to come out and test ourselves. Like what Coach Tab [Baldwin] said, we had some success against Serbia, but not the same tonight.”
