Gilas tackles Boomers, tries to avoid FIBA third window shutout
At A Glance
- Gilas Pilipinas looks to pick up all the positives even after the tough loss against New Zealand when it takes on the powerhouse Australia to avoid a shutout in the third window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers at the RAC Arena in Perth on Monday, July 6.
Gilas Pilipinas looks to pick up all the positives even after the tough loss against New Zealand when it takes on the powerhouse Australia to avoid a shutout in the third window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers at the RAC Arena in Perth on Monday, July 6.
Licking their wounds from the 102-106 heartbreaker at the hands of the Tall Blacks, the Nationals face a steeper mountain to climb against the Boomers who remain undefeated throughout the qualifiers.
Tip-off of the clash is at 6:30 p.m., with Gilas hoping to ride the stellar showing of its young guns which served as the silver lining in the narrow loss against New Zealand.
“That was the vision from the very beginning when we put this team together, that one day, they would be the main guys,” said Gilas head coach Tim Cone as guys like Carl Tamayo, Kevin Quiambao and Juan Gomez de Liano all stepped up in the last game.
“They may be becoming that faster than we thought but they are certainly stepping up and playing at a much higher level than when they were first with the team. So we are really proud of the young guys,” he added.
The trio actually came close to towing the Nationals to a crucial win against New Zealand, forcing two overtimes before crucial fouls and turnovers haunted the team in the end.
It also didn’t help that Justin Brownlee was far from his usual element, only finishing with five points against the Tall Blacks.
And those are something Gilas cannot have against the Boomers, who, with the level of their talent, can easily pounce on the Nationals' mistakes and pull away for good.
For one, the Boomers are even coming off a historic game that saw them hit a World Cup Qualifiers record of 24 triples to rout Guam, 124-52.
In their previous meeting, Australia romped Gilas at home, 93-66, to extend its win streak over Philippine teams to six games spanning 52 years.