The frustrations of the fans continued to mount as Gilas Pilipinas suffered a painful 79-68 loss at the hands of a rejigged Cambodia side.

Gilas head coach Chot Reyes (Ariya Kurniawan | @ariyakurniawan16 on IG)

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The loss was so disappointing that even Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas chairman emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan couldn’t prevent himself from airing his frustration over the national team’s campaign in the ongoing 32nd Southeast Asian Games.

“What a disgraceful game for Gilas. An ignominious defeat which will be etched deeply in infamy. SBP - what happened?,” the MVP group top honcho said in a tweet.

It wasn’t still clear whether MVP’s Twitter account was hacked or if that was really his thoughts about the game. Nonetheless, the observation couldn’t be denied with fans also having the same lingering questions for Gilas.

With Gilas facing Cambodia, which was armed by six naturalized players, what happened, SBP?

It turned out the federation and Gilas Pilipinas was not really caught blindsided by the rule of the SEA Games organizers which allowed teams to field multiple naturalized players. 

In fact, as early as January, Philippine Olympic Committee president Bambol Tolentino already disclosed that the Cambodia SEAG organizing committee only requires a passport for a certain athlete to be eligible to play in the biennial competition.

Simply put, the host team just made the most out of the rules in place and was rewarded with the sweet victory while Gilas, which had to deal with manpower woes and short preparation time, failed to take advantage of the rule.

Justin Brownlee, who struggled in the game, could have been backed up by Ange Kouame or Andray Blatche.

“Should say GILAS PILIPINAS should add more FIL-AMS in the future tournaments, SEA Games, and pwede hanggang tatlo or apat na imports,” said one Twitter user Paolo Mendoza.

“So pikon ako na natalo ang Gilas sa Cambodia. But can't be too angry at the players on the court. These are the ones who showed up when no one else did. Please play with more anger and pride in the next games,” a fan, Gabe Mercado, also wrote.

Some even expressed concern over Gilas’ performance especially with the 2023 FIBA World Cup just around the corner.

“If Gilas Pilipinas cannot beat a Cambodian team (that has naturalized players) they have no chance in winning a game in the FIBA World cup. Teams in the WC are far superior than this naturalized-led Cambodian team. Stop the excuses.