Gilas Pilipinas has long been undersized in international competitions that it was quite a rarity for Filipinos to be praised for their height and length.

But that was exactly the comments of Latvia head coach Luca Banchi who admitted that the host country struggled against Gilas size especially on the defensive end with twin towers Kai Sotto and June Mar Fajardo lording it over the paint.

“I believe that also defensively their system and their size and their lineup topology closed the paint very well,” said Banchi whose team had to face the tallest starting five in Gilas history.

Aside from the 6-foot-10 Fajardo and the 7-foot-3 Kai Sotto at the frontline, Gilas is also not giving up too much in terms of length with 6-foot-5 Justin Brownlee and 6-foot-4 Dwight Ramos playing at the wings and 6-foot-2 Chris Newsome manning the point.

With Gilas length covering the paint, Latvia was actually forced to settle with the three-point shots which, fortunately for Gilas, didn’t hit the mark despite the host team being a capable shooting team.

“It caused 40 and more shots [in] three points, which we scored only 10, so I would say their decision to collapse the lane was successful,” pointed out Banchi who also rued the quality of shots Gilas was forcing Latvia to take even if it manages to get into the paint.

“I would say their decision to collapse the lane was successful. Their size allowed them to control the rebound and if I have to compare with yesterday (against Georgia) we had the less second of opportunity. The quality of the shot is not always the best and the selection of the shot is not always the best,” he rued.

As they struggled with their offense, the Latvia coach admitted that his wards also took some time to get into how Gilas was executing on the offensive end, largely due to their unfamiliarity to Gilas head coach Tim Cone’s triangle offense.

“They have an efficient offensive system. It's not simple. It's not common not only in Europe but in general. It is not common to have teams who run such a system,” Banchi said of Cone.

The Gilas coach, for his part, said that the triangle offense was a perfect complement to his defensive principles that were key in the upset win.

“It’s an offense that, if I may say, plays at a tempo in which you can play defense and that’s why I love it so much. I’m kinda famous for the triangle but I am more of a defense-oriented coach and that offense just helped me run the defense,” explained Cone