WORLD No. 18 Montenegro taught Gilas Pilipinas a neat lesson that National coach Chot Reyes hopes they will take to heart three days before the FIBA World Cup gets going.
“When we give good quality teams like Montenegro momentum like that, it would be very, very hard to recover,” Reyes said. “(It’s a) good example for this ball game, a little or brief letdown and that’s what happens.
“This game made us really feel we’re there at the World Cup, and the kind of team we’re playing, they’ve been there as a team for a long time, with great talent, (and) very smooth system,” he added.
Reyes spoke after his wards absorbed an 87-102 loss to the Black Mountain last Sunday night in a closed-door tune-up game at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
Buoyed by an 85-62 whipping of Ivory Coast in the first of its three-match scrimmage against fellow World Cup squads three days back, the Philippines managed to stay within striking distance of a Montenegro side which drew 18 points from Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic.
Gilas fell 42-44 at the halfway mark but Vucevic spearheaded a vicious third quarter assault where Montenegro outscored the Philippines 32-22.
“Offensively and defensively, I like how we competed. We competed with them for the entire first half,” Reyes said.
“But we just had a letdown defensively in the third quarter and that’s why we played these games, to see what else we can improve on.”
NBA standout and naturalized player Jordan Clarkson paced Gilas with a game-high 27 points, to go with five rebounds but committed eight of the team’s 19 turnovers.
PBA six-time MVP June Mar Fajardo and Dwight Ramos chipped in 19 and 13 markers, respectively.
In its final practice tiff, Gilas squared off with No. 31 Mexico last tonight, still behind closed doorss.
The Filipino cagers launch their drive in the global basketball showpiece event against NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns and Dominican Republic on Friday at the Philippine Arena before taking Angola two days later at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Gilas winds up its Group A stint against Italy on Aug. 29 also at the Big Dome.
With Towns in town, Reyes said they will no longer take a break before their match against the Caribbean nation.
“Hindi na, tuloy-tuloy na kami, tatlong araw na lang,” he said. “They have Towns and that other guy, (Lester) Quiñones. They are very good.”
