A rusty, sluggish Gilas Pilipinas squad showed up and absorbed a sorry 71-81 loss to Estonia in a friendly match that is part of its preparation for the FIBA Basketball World Cup Tuesday night (Manila time) at the Kalev Sports Hall in Tallinn.
Naturalized player Justin Brownlee greatly struggled while Scottie Thompson sat out with an injury for the Filipinos, who are building up for the prestigious 32-nation tournament that the country will host from 25 August to 10 September.
Brownlee, who arrived in the Estonian capital only last Sunday, had already recovered from grueling campaigns in the Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup and Commissioner’s Cup as well as the 32nd Southeast Asian Games last May.
He, however, was placed under health and safety protocols and underwent a non-basketball procedure in the United States that delayed his arrival in the Gilas camp.
Against Estonia, Brownlee suffered cramps, prompting Gilas coach Chot Reyes to give him limited minutes in the second half.
“Justin cramped and played only a few minutes in the second half,” Gilas assistant coach Tim Cone told Daily Tribune in a Viber message.
“But overall, the coaching staff all thought that it was a very good first effort.”
Brownlee, a three-time Best Imports in the PBA, played a little over 19 minutes to finish with eight points, four rebounds, one assist and three turnovers, prompting Dwight Ramos to step up offensively to register a team-high 16 points, five rebounds and two steals.
Despite trailing for majority of the game, Reyes still lauded the effort and character of his wards, especially when they rallied from 22 points down, 19-41, to make the exhibition match more interesting.
Gilas were on the brink of pulling off a shocker but June Mar Fajardo and Kiefer Ravena committed crucial turnovers that doomed their chances.
“I was very impressed,” Reyes said in an interview.
“I was very happy in our first game, considering this was June Mar’s first game in three months, Japeth’s (Aguilar) first game in a few months, and for us to continue to battle, we were down by as many as 20. Still, we showed a lot of fight, putting ourselves within a basket. We were just three points down in the middle of the fourth period and we played without Justin who’s out because of cramps. It’s a good first step.”
‘Unfortunately, we had 23 turnovers, but that was kinda expected.’
Reyes added that their late-game miscues hurt them but they are all part of the process. After all, the real war is the World Cup, the most prestigious basketball event in the world outside the Summer Olympics.
“Unfortunately, we had 23 turnovers, but that was kinda expected,” Reyes said.
“This is our first game together as a team and I told the players that our offense is expected to struggle and it reflected in our 23 turnovers.”
“Going to this first game, we knew we had a long way to go and still a lot of work to be done because this is a work in progress.”
After Estonia, Gilas will face Finland in another friendly game before traveling to Lithuania where they will hold camp and get an opportunity to play the Lithuanian national team.
Finland is ranked No. 13 in the world and will also see action in the World Cup. It, however, is not yet clear if Utah Jazz star Lauri Markannen will suit up.
“They’re young and they pressured a lot,” Reyes said, referring to the home team that banked on 24-year-old Carlos Jurgens with 20 points.
“We knew that we were going to be tested both offensively and defensively because the way they run their offense is so efficient.”
“Again, that’s why we came here, to learn and to grow. Like what I’ve said, I couldn’t ask for a better first game.”
