By: Jan Marcus Montevirgen
Lynard “ZavaLCB” Banzon expressed frustration after eGilas Pilipinas fell short once again, settling for a fourth-place finish in the eFIBA Season 3 World Finals.
The Philippines suffered a hard-fought 1-3 loss to Portugal in the battle for third place on Thursday at the SMX Clark Convention Center.
The Philippine national team started the best-of-three series on a strong note, clinching a hard-fought 54-51 victory in Game 1. ZavaLCB delivered a standout performance, tallying 16 points and eight assists to lead eGilas.
However, Portugal responded in Game 2 with a dominant 57-45 win, forcing a decisive Game 3.
In a tightly contested finale, the Portuguese narrowly edged out eGilas, 48-46, securing the bronze medal and consigning the Filipinos to their second consecutive fourth-place finish in the World Finals.
Reflecting on the team’s performance, ZavaLCB shared his disappointment but acknowledged their potential.
“I felt like we could’ve done better, kasi lalo na tinalo namin yung Turkey, which is sila yung second place. ‘Di lang namin na-close out yung Brazil tsaka yung Portugal. But overall, we could’ve done better,” ZavaLCB said in an exclusive interview with Tiebreaker Times.
Despite the team’s failure to reach the podium, ZavaLCB earned individual recognition as part of the tournament’s All-Star team. Yet, for the eGilas point guard, the honor was bittersweet, as it came without the championship they had been aiming for.
“Kung hindi kami nag-champion, I feel like yung individual award doesn’t mean that much to me. Honestly, I always want to win the championship. Pero I am thankful kase nakuha ko yung award,” he said.
With the elusive world championship still out of reach, ZavaLCB is already looking ahead, focusing on addressing the team’s weaknesses to come back stronger.
“From here on out, we just have to figure out what is missing on the team to improve,” he said.
“Feel ko kulang kami sa defense. Yung offense din, kailangan naming i-polish, but yung pinaka-glaring talaga sa akin is yung defense, lalo na sa perimeter,” ZavaLCB concluded.
