PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Despite the uncomfortable condition and backlash from its chief benefactor, Gilas Pilipinas will have a more pressing matter to deal with when it battles Singapore in the men’s basketball event of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games Saturday at the Elephant 2 Hall of the Morodok Techo National Stadium here.
Action unwraps at 2 p.m. (Manila time) with the Filipinos looking for a crucial win that will keep their title hopes alive following a heartbreaking 68-79 loss to Cambodia on Thursday.
A victory by Gilas will give them the No. 2 spot in Group A, earning them the right to face the top seed in Group B that is composed of Thailand, Indonesia, Laos and Vietnam in the sudden-death semifinals.
But the Filipinos will be marching to battle with battered bodies and bruised egos.
No less than industrialist Manny Pangilinan — the chairman emeritus of Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas — blasted Gilas Pilipinas following its sloppy performance against the Cambodians, who enjoyed tremendous homecourt advantage and were aided by at least six naturalized players.
“What a disgraceful game for Gilas,” Pangilinan posted on social media following the country’s first ever loss to Cambodia in an international competition.
“An ignominious defeat which will be etched deeply in infamy. SBP — what happened?”
Save for what was dubbed as “Horror in Hanoi” in which they lost to Indonesia in the gold medal match of the previous SEA Games in Vietnam, the Filipinos have yet to face any serious trouble in the biennial meet.
In fact, the only time they struggled in the early stretch of the SEA Games was in 1989 in Kuala Lumpur in which the Filipinos, then coached by Derrick Pumaren with Yeng Guiao as assistant, lost the second game of the preliminaries to the host country.
Back then, only five teams were competing with Malaysia emerging as champion and the Philippines settling for the silver medal.
Still, Gilas are tipped to take care of business against an equally struggling Singapore side.
Despite the exhaustion of naturalized player Justin Brownlee and injury of Calvin Oftana, Gilas are still favored to dominate against the Singaporeans, who lost to Cambodia, 60-85, and Malaysia, 70-93, in their previous outings.
“These are some of the things we can learn on and we move on,” Gilas coach Chot Reyes said.
“We go to the next game and then be prepared for the knockout semifinals.”
After Singapore, the Filipinos will have a rest day that would give everybody a chance to recharge, especially Brownlee, who has been playing competitively non-stop since seeing action in the sixth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup and Governors’ Cup.
Aside from Brownlee and Christian Standhardinger, collegiate players like Michael Phillips and Jerom Lastimosa are expected to step up anew after holding their ground against bigger, more experienced American-Cambodians in their previous game.
But Gilas will need consistent shooting from Marcio Lassiter, Arvin Tolentino, Chris Newsome and CJ Perez to keep their offensive flow.
“We’re not a one-man team. The other players should also pick up the slack,” Reyes said.
“That’s what I told the guys after the game that we have to make sure we make the shots. We missed a ton of lay ups, we missed a ton of free throws. If we clean those up, those things that we normally make, even if Justin was struggling, I know we could have made the game against Cambodia a close ballgame.”
