Gilas closes invitational with blowout loss anew to South Korea

MANILA, Philippines, September 7 ------ Gilas Pilipinas ended its two-game Hana Bank Invitational with another blowout loss, following its 69-42 spanking at the hands of the Korean national five in Suwon City, South Korea.

The Filipinos, comprised of professional stars from their respective PBA teams, conked out offensively in the first half. The national side, which is using the invitational to prepare for its Asian Games title defense, only scored 14 points in the opening half as Gilas trailed by 24.

Nothing much changed from there, with Gilas falling by as many as 30 points, leading to a lopsided defeat for the second straight time. Gilas coach Tim Cone said the coaching staff “Korea was a tough team, the same team that has played the 4 FIBA windows,” said Cone through his response via Viber. “We obviously couldn’t approach their level of execution and knowledge of each other. These losses weren’t on the players, it was on us as a coaching staff.” Gilas bowed to South Korea, 81-52 on Friday.

The national squad is set to leave South Korea on Monday and will head to Nagoya, Japan to start acclimatizing and continue its preparations for the Asian Games. Gilas begins its Asian Games basketball title defense on Sept. 11 against Bahrain.

Source: manilatimes.net