‘A lot of factors were involved,’ says Chot Reyes on Gilas’ 0-3 finish in group stage

Gilas Pilipinas went winless in the group stage of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, but coach Chot Reyes is taking heart in the fact that his team showed it can compete with and even put itself in a position to win against high-caliber teams on the international arena.

Gilas only lost by an average of 7.4 points after three games and was only staring at a seven-point deficit, 90-83, against the Azzurri at the final buzzer, in contrast to the Nationals’ average losing margin of 24 points, including a 40-point beatdown by Italy, in the 2019 edition.

The first game Gilas played ended in an 88-81 loss against the Dominican Republic, while the second was an unfortunate 80-70 loss to Angola.

All three games were close, with the Filipinos holding the lead at one point, but ultimately losing due to unlucky breaks.

“We’ve shown that we can compete and even lead against these top teams. We’re just not able to put an entire game together,” said Reyes.

“There are a lot of factors involved. Obviously, in the first game, Jordan Clarkson fouled out. That was a big factor. If he didn’t foul out, maybe it would have been a different story. Every game has different things happening. Last game, we couldn’t make shots. Today, we faced a team that made all their three-point shots. Like JC said, that’s basketball,” he added.

Reyes, though, was pleased with his team’s performance and felt they had done all they could have under the intense pressure of the first six days of the group stage.

Gilas never lost hope, even in the waning seconds of the game against Italy, when it appeared that the outcome was already written in stone.

“I’m very proud of the effort of our players. What a way to fight coming off those two painful losses and to still show up tonight and to give it their all against a top ten team in the world,” said Reyes after the tough loss to the Italians.

“I couldn’t ask for more. We just came up short but you know, we continue to fight and that’s all we can do,” he added.

However, Gilas’ World Cup journey is far from over as the squad still has to play South Sudan and China in the classification phase, the results of which would have a major impact on whether or not the Nationals would qualify for next year’s Olympics.

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