"Inexperienced" Gilas Side Shows Heart Against Korea

It felt like it's 2013 all over again.

Like in the 2013 encounter between Gilas Pilipinas and South Korea inside the Mall of Asia Arena, the Philippines needed a last-minute heroic to carve out an escape victory against their archnemesis. Only this time, it came down to the very last second.

SJ Belanel drained a well-guarded three-pointer at the buzzer to help Gilas Pilipinas escape with an 81-78 win over South Korea to open their campaign in the third window of the 2021 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asia Cup qualifiers in Clark. The win enabled the Filipinos to formally book their tickets to the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup in Indonesia.

Dwight Ramos led the way with 16 points for Gilas Pilipinas, who fell behind as much as 17 points in the first half.  Belangel added 13 points while Kai Sotto finally made his debut for the men's team and finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. Fellow debutant Angelo Kouame had 12 points, six rebounds, and shot three for five from the three-point line. Carl Tamayo added 10 points in his debut as well.

Dubbed by many as an inexperienced squad as they are also the youngest team in this bubble, Gilas showed their inexperience as mistakes rained down early on. Players didn't pick up the loose ball when they should have picked it up. Players took rushed shots early in their shot clock. In one possession, Angelo Kouame was sent falling to the floor by a Korean player on a drive to the cup. 

What kept them from falling behind furthermore?

They fought it out.

Sure, they couldn't contain Ra Gun-ah, who led the Koreans with 24 points and 15 points. Sure, Gilas allowed the Koreans to shoot 10 for 32 from the three-point line. But, they stuck in it. They stuck in the system of Coach Tab Baldwin. They showed the heart of a Gilas Pilipinas team. They even won the rebounding battle (41-40) against a taller Korean team. 

As inexperienced as this Gilas team is, they will learn from this experience. They will need to learn from this as they will next face Indonesia on June 18 before wrapping things up with one final dance against face Korea on June 20.

Photo is from FIBA