Tag: Gilas

Gilas Pilipinas beats Taiwan Mustangs in tune-up before OQT

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Dwight Ramos leads Gilas Pilipinas past Taiwan Mustangs in a tune-up game ahead of the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament for the Paris Games. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines–Gilas Pilipinas rolled past Taiwan Mustangs on Monday night, 74-64, kicking off its build-up for the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament on a positive note.

Dwight Ramos had 19 points to lead the Nationals who are priming for the short meet that will complete the field in the Summer Olympic Games that will be held in Paris, France.

Justin Brownlee, fresh from plying his trade in Indonesia, delivered 12 points and 15 rebounds in a wire-to-wire victory fashioned before over 5,000 spectators at PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.

READ: Gilas loses Scottie to old injury, will fly with only 11 men to Latvia

“Well you know, we weren’t concerned about winning a basketball game, we wanted to play a certain style. And I think we did a really good job,” Gilas coach Tim Cone said shortly after the triumph over a visiting crew led by former PBA players Alex Cabagnot and Rashawn McCarthy.

“We got a lot of work to do but we have time. We got a lot of work to do ahead of us … We’ll just continue to get better and better as we move forward,” he went on.

Gilas will now set its sights on a pair of friendlies in Europe. The Filipinos fly to Turkey on Tuesday night where they will take on the host national team then move to Poland before plunging into action in the OQT in Riga where World No. 6 and host Latvia and No. 23 Georgia await.

Kai Sotto had nine points and nine rebounds, June Mar Fajardo chipped in eight points, while Carl Tamayo and skipper Japeth Aguilar combined for 13 in the scoring effort.

READ: Gilas plays tuneup matches before OQT

Gilas stuck with just 11 players as Roger Pogoy, a former national team gunner, joined the crowd as a spectator. He was with the team in its short closed-door camp at Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna a few days ago.

Cone said he will be sticking with that roster number with Fajardo finally activated and Amos completing the cast as a replacement.

Jamie Malonzo, AJ Edu and Scottie Thompson are all sidelined by injury.



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Oscar Lopez, who served the Cambodian national team during the Southeast Asian Games in the past, had 15 points, Cabagnot tossed in 13, while McCarthy 12 for the Mustangs who were coached by former Rain or Shine coach Chris Gavina.

Gilas crushes Maldives by 123 points in Fiba U18 Asia Cup

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Gilas Pilipinas’ Alicia Villanueva against the Maldives in the Fiba U18 Asia Cup in China on Monday. –Fiba Asia Photo

MANILA, Philippines–Gilas Pilipinas picked Maldives with methodical precision on Monday, 141-18, for a rousing start in the Fiba U18 Asia Cup Division B in Shenzen, China.

The young Nationals came out of the gates hard, racing to a 22-0 lead to take early control of the contest at Futian Sports Park.

Alicia Villanueva, who starred for the Philippines in last month’s Asia Cup Qualifiers held in Thailand, picked up where she left off with 18 points.

READ: Gilas U18 squad eyes sweep for promotion, redemption

Jolzyne Impreso chipped in 18 points as well, with seven more of Julie Amos’ charges scoring at least 12 points in the blowout which was a repeat of the two nations’ last encounter in the previous edition of the meet held in India two years ago.

Gilas put the game beyond doubt as early as the second quarter where the Filipinas went on a 47-0 rampage for a 99-14 edge in the next period.

The Philippines will next face Lebanon, another country it easily beat the last time.

Gilas Girls are shooting for a Division A promotion, which will send them to the main tournament where top-flight countries like China, Japan, and Australia are playing.



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After soaring into PBA lore, Newsome hopes to make the same impact for Gilas Pilipinas

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Meralco Bolts’ Chris Newsome during Game 6 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Last week saw Chris Newsome weave himself into PBA lore with a shot that ended Meralco’s long wait for a championship.

But next week will see Newsome test himself once more against some of the best international basketball has to offer, with a bigger role expected of him for Gilas Pilipinas in the OIympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT).

“I’m a natural competitor, and I want to see what I’m capable of,” said Newsome, who is seen as a key cog in Gilas’ daunting task facing host Latvia and Georgia in Riga for the final phase of qualification for the Paris Games.

Odds are stacked against Gilas, with Latvia and Georgia seen as the two sides progressing past Group A of the OQT phase which starts July 2.

But Newsome will head to the OQT with confidence at a high level following a performance that keyed Meralco’s triumph over San Miguel and end the franchise’s 14-year wait for a PBA crown.

Important presence

His heroic role, ending with a baseline jumper in Game 6 that sealed the championship, capped off a season in which Newsome has been playing at a level never before seen since he entered the league in 2015.

Much of the credit is on his important presence in Gilas’ victory in the Hangzhou Asian Games, a result that ended the Philippines’ 61-year gold medal drought.

“It definitely helped me going up against [some of] the best in the world,” he said. “It helped me understand where I am as a player and what skills that I have to work on.”

Winning a PBA title and his newfound status as one of the country’s best players, however, can’t satisfy Newsome, who’ll now try to not only put Gilas in a position to give both European countries a run for their money, but also hold his own against the players he’ll go up against.

“Sometimes, I fail. But I’m okay with failing, because I know I did my best,” he said. “Even with this [PBA] championship, I have so much to improve on.”

Gilas is wrapping its short camp at Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna, and is scheduled to take on the Taiwan Mustangs of The Asian Tournament on Monday at Philsports Arena in Pasig City.



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Then it’s off to Europe for Gilas for tune-up matches with Turkey and Poland in the leadup to the OQT.

Gilas loses Scottie to old injury, will fly with only 11 men to Latvia

On: By: admin


An old problem reared its ugly head once again as Gilas Pilipinas on Friday officially lost Barangay Ginebra star Scottie Thompson to a recurring back injury with the Nationals having less than two weeks left before departing for a mammoth task of trying to make the Paris Olympics through the Riga, Latvia qualifiers.

“Scottie is out because of an injury,” team manager Richard del Rosario told the Inquirer just as the Nationals opened camp at Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna.

Thompson, according to Del Rosario, has been grounded by a slipped disc—the same back injury that hobbled him at times in his collegiate career and again kept him from playing three games early into the Gin Kings’ bid in the recently concluded Philippine Cup.

The tireless playmaker is the latest mainstay to be ruled out for the July 2-8 tournament that will complete the competing nations in the Summer Olympic Games in the glitzy fashion capital next month.

Thompson becomes the third man to be scratched from the team after two-way forward Jamie Malonzo and big man AJ Edu, who was a revelation in the Fiba World Cup the country hosted last year.

Latvia first

Team Philippines first clashes with host Latvia, ranked sixth in the World, and then Georgia.

Coach Tim Cone has already rued missing the 6-foot-11 Edu, whom he feels could be vital in battling Latvia’s big men. Now, he will be dealing with the loss of a do-it-all playmaker familiar with his system and its tendencies, and an integral cog in the long-haul cast geared toward returning to the Olympics either through the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) this year or the World Cup set in Qatar three years from now.

The Nationals kicked off their closed-door training camp with original, handpicked talents present. Japeth Aguilar and Ateneo center Mason Amos, tapped as reserves back in April, were again joined by practice players Ralph Cu and Donald Gumaru—both Cone guys at Ginebra.

The Philippines won’t be the only side dealing with a manpower crisis as Latvia’s Kristaps Porzingis is expected to opt out of the OQT, as he is set to undergo surgery for a leg injury that kept him from playing three games of the NBA Finals his Boston Celtics won over Dallas.

Arturs Zagars, a crowd darling during the last World Cup, is also still coping with a knee problem sustained while serving his mother club BC Wolves in the Lithuanian Basketball League (LBL).

“Obviously, I’m still working towards that,” he said of a possible OQT stint in an interview published on the LBL website.



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As things stand, Gilas will be having just 11 players for the OQTs that will be cohosted by Spain, Greece and Puerto Rico. And whatever problems related to such a short roster should be visible even to casual fans when the Nationals host the Taiwan Mustangs this Monday at PhilSports Arena in one of its many friendlies leading up to the Riga showcase.

Gilas played with an undermanned roster during the Fiba Asia Cup Qualifiers when many-time World Cup June Mar Fajardo and Edu were sidelined with varying injuries.

Gilas plays tuneup matches before OQT

On: By: admin


Gilas Pilipinas waves to the crowd after the Filipinos’ win over Chinese Taipei in the Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Chris Newsome, June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez, fresh off the PBA Philippine Cup Finals, will look to make good use of upcoming tuneup matches to gauge where Gilas Pilipinas stands against stiff opposition in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT).

Gilas is set to face Turkiye and Poland before the final phase of qualification for the Paris Olympics gets underway in Latvia on July 2, and coach Tim Cone said on Thursday that he hopes to make good use of those two OQT warmup matches.

“Playing against Turkey and Poland will give us an indication of what we will have to bring to Latvia and the OQT to be successful,” Cone told the Inquirer.

The Philippines will face host Latvia on July 2 and Georgia the following day in Riga, needing to win at one of those games in Group A to reach the semifinals.

But Gilas must top the Riga qualification to end the country’s 52-year wait to compete in the Summer Games.

Latvia made heads turn in last year’s World Cup when it made it to the quarterfinals behind guard Arturs Zagars and Italian coach Luca Banchi.

Before heading to Latvia, Gilas will train starting on Friday at Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna, then face the Taiwan Mustangs of The Asian Tournament on Monday at PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.

The Mustangs are a team that includes ex-NBA players Dwight Howard, DeMarcus Cousins and Quinn Cook, but there are reports that their availability for the Gilas face-off remains unsure.

Gilas flies to Europe the next day to hold those friendlies with Turkiye and Poland.

Expected to figure prominently in the OQT lead-up is Newsome, whose performance in the Philippine Cup Finals propelled the Meralco Bolts to their first PBA title.

Fajardo and Perez are part of the contingent, so is naturalized player Justin Brownlee, who is coming off a stint with Indonesian side Pelita Jaya in the Basketball Champions League Asia.



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Ginebra star Scottie Thompson, TNT’s Calvin Oftana, Japan B.League imports Kai Sotto, Dwight Ramos, KBL-based Carl Tamayo, La Salle’s Kevin Quiambao comprise the rest of the squad while Mason Amos and Japeth Aguilar are reportedly taking the place of injured players AJ Edu and Jamie Malonzo.