Heading into the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam, Gilas Pilipinas were targetting at least a couple of gold medals.
However, the defending champions in all four basketball disciplines only went home with one gold (women’s 5-on-5), one silver (men’s 5-on-5), and one bronze (men’s 3×3).
The campaign which has been dubbed as the Horror in Hanoi has been much-maligned for the past few days.
On Wednesday morning, the SBP expressed their deepest apologies for the turnout.
“We at the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas share the disappointment of our Filipino basketball fans and take full responsibility with the results of our 31st Southeast Asian Games campaign,” read the statement of president Al Panlilio.
“We apologize we fell short and were not able to give our teams better support that they needed to retain the Gold.”
Gilas Women’s 3×3 finished a gallant fourth place in the tournament despite not having Jack Animam in the lineup.
The program headed by Patrick Aquino more than made up for it by winning gold in the 5-on-5 tournament, finishing with a 4-1 record.
(C) Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas
Meanwhile, Gilas 3×3 which was represented by PBA 3×3 First Conference champion Limitless, ended up with bronze.
Gilas 3×3 finished their elimination round campaign with a 4-2 record, losing to Indonesia and Vietnam.
In the semis, the Philippines lost to Vietnam, 21-17, before settling for third place after taking down Indonesia, 14-10.
Finally, the most painful of losses came on the last day of the tournament as Gilas Men saw their 33-year reign on top of the region come to an end after an 81-85 loss to Indonesia in the virtual gold medal match.
(C) PSC-POC Media Group
The SBP though is not offering any excuses for the debacle, vowing that it will serve as a lesson moving forward.
“There are no excuses and we’ve learned valuable lessons. We will bounce back and reclaim our spot to stay ahead.”
