JAKARTA – Kevin Quiambao felt that the FIBA Asia Cup 2022 was the right opportunity for Gilas Pilipinas to exact vengeance following the humiliation they received from New Zealand just weeks ago in the latter’s stomping grounds.
It could be recalled that the youth-laden crew suffered a harsh 106-60 beatdown at the hands of the Tall Blacks in the recent World Cup Qualifiers window, a loss that was also coupled with injuries to Carl Tamayo and Dave Ildefonso.
Thus, the sheer disappointment on the part of the 21-year-old forward when he and the Filipino dribblers failed to earn any sort of payback.
“Sobrang sayang,” said Quiambao moments after their 92-75 defeat to New Zealand, Sunday night at the Istora Senayan here.
“Opportunity namin ‘to na bumawi kasi tinalo kami nung last window ng New Zealand. Feel namin this was a good chance, pero wala.”
Gilas was able to make it quite a close one after allowing the opposition to score 30 in the first 10 minutes, but the Tall Blacks, despite being filled with young talent, proved to be the more disciplined and steadier side.
Sure, Chot Reyes’ charges took extremely well of the basketball with just one turnover for the entirety of the game while forcing their foes to commit 13, but that was negated by the wide disparity in rebounding, 61-28.
(C) FIBA.basketball
“We played bad nung first quarter. Maganda naman ‘yung tinakbo namin nung second, third, and fourth, ‘yun lang medyo nagkaroon lang ng lapses,” offered Quiambao. “Kaya, nakabitaw kami nung huli.”
The La Salle-commit himself, though, provided one of the few bright spots in the defeat. After showcasing his passing in their first two matches, he proved that he can also come through on scoring with 14 points on a 50-percent clip.
Quiambao hopes to carry over his touch in their do-or-die game against Japan on Tuesday, where one of the remaining quarterfinal tickets are at stake.
“‘Yung mga score ko naman galing naman sa sistema. Mabu-boost nito [kumpiyansa ko] kung sino makakalaban namin next game,” he said.
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Catch Gilas’ games in the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup live on GigaPlay. Download it now on Android or IOS.
Highlights of the games will also be on SMART Sports.
