Gilas Pilipinas has assembled its tallest lineup in this edition of the World Cup but the Nationals, ironically, have been losing the battle of the boards in their first two games.

Gilas head coach Chot Reyes had repeatedly pointed out the need for the Filipinos to clear the rebounds, giving up 17 offensive boards against the Dominican Republic in the first game and another 20 in the 80-70 defeat against Angola.

It was a baffling stat, to say the least, especially with a frontline that has four players all standing at least 6-foot-9.

“Just the matter of size and strength. I think we have to do a lot of scrambling on our defense to shut down the other teams, that doesn’t put us in a good position (for the rebounds),” said Reyes after the game.

“The combination of scrambling and perhaps the lack of reminder to continuously put their bodies and screen off (opponents),” he added.

June Mar Fajardo emerged as Gilas’ best rebounder so far in the tournament with seven boards per game followed by AJ Edu (5.5) and Jordan Clarkson (5.0).

However, with a heftier and more physical frontline from Angola, Gilas simply got bullied on the boards. Bruno Fernando and Jilson Bango had seven boards apiece – nine of which were offensive boards. 

“It's tough tonight. You could see Angola putting three big men on there so we knew we were in for a tough rebounding night no matter how much we worked,” said Reyes.

“In the end we were just outrebounded by four but I felt the 20 offensive rebounds were just too painful,” he added.

With Gilas’ backs now against the wall, rebounding along with its lethargic three-point shooting are some of the things Gilas must address ahead of a do-or-die match against Italy on Tuesday, Aug. 29.