Tag: tuneup

Gilas Pilipinas loses to Turkey in tune-up ahead of Fiba OQT

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Gilas Pilipinas’ June Mar Fajardo and Justin Brownlee flank as Turkey player during a tune-up game in Istanbul ahead of the Fiba OQT. –TURKEY BASKETBALL FEDERATION

Gilas Pilipinas sputtered when it mattered most on Friday, bowing to Turkey, 84-73, in the second tune-up game geared towards the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OTQ).

The Nationals, led by Justin Brownlee valiantly fought for most of the contest at Besiktas Akatlar Culture and Sports Complex in Istanbul but had to settle with the loss with young cornerstone Kai Sotto saddled with fouls and shooting abandoning Gilas just as it was trying to mount a comeback.

Brownlee, Gilas’ naturalized ace, delivered 21 points and five rebounds while June Mar Fajardo added 17 and 11 for the Tim Cone-mentored squad priming for the OQT in Riga, Latvia next week.

READ: Gilas Pilipinas flies to Turkiye hoping to show readiness for OQT

“It was a tough loss against Turkey. We had our first taste of the type of opposition we will be facing in the OQT,” Gilas assistant coach and team manager Richard del Rosario said in a bulletin posted by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas a few hours after the contest held early morning in Manila.

The Philippines pulled within two, 42-40, heading into the intermission. Gilas again trimmed the Turkish lead to five, 78-73, on a Brownlee slam with 1:44 remaining, just before Gilas’ offense conked out.

The Filipinos hit only five threes as the Turks converted 14 of their 41 attempts from downtown.

Sotto had seven points before fouling out with 2:35 left in the clash that had Gilas going 1-1 in its preparations for the Riga meet. Cone and his charges defeated the Taiwan Mustangs at PhilSports Arena last Sunday.

READ: Gilas Pilipinas beats Taiwan Mustangs in tune-up before OQT

Host Latvia, Gilas’ first assignment in OQT, crushed Egypt, 84-63, in a friendly late Thursday. Georgia, another Group A opponent, stumbled against Cameroon, 67-66.

Multi-time local league champion Tarik Biberovic led the way for Turkey with 23 points built on a 5-for-9 shooting from deep. Can Kormaz chipped in 12 more for the Turks who are also in their own buildup.

The Dev Adam, who are ranked 24th in the global leaderboard, are preparing for the EuroLeague and are playing a series of friendlies which includes Olympics host France.

Gilas will be wrapping up its buildup against the World No. 15 Poland on Saturday (early Sunday morning in Manila) before plunging into one of the four OQTs, which will complete the Summer Olympic Games field.

Gilas Pilipinas scores:

Turkey (84) — Biberovic 23, Korkmaz 12, Sanli 9, Sipahi 9, Osmani 8, Ozdemiroglu 7, Haltali 6, Kabaca 3, Yilmaz 3, Bas 2, Yasar 2, Ilyasoglu 0.

Philippines (73) — Brownlee 21, Fajardo 17, Sotto 7, Tamayo 7, Newsome 5, Ramos 4, Aguilar 4, Perez 3, Oftana 3, Quiambao 2, Amos 0.



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Quarterscores: 24-21; 42-40; 64-56; 84-73.

Gilas makes up for absence of injured cogs in tune-up before OQT

On: By: admin


Gilas Pilipinas during a tune-up game against Taiwan Mustangs. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Gilas Pilipinas is down three men for the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament but that doesn’t make them shorthanded, said coach Tim Cone.

Gilas will have to make do minus three key cogs with Scottie Thompson, AJ Edu and Jamie Malonzo all nursing injuries in the Paris qualifiers in Riga, Latvia.

So far, Gilas has shown just that following a 74-64 win over the Taiwan Mustangs in a tune-up game on Monday at Philsports Arena.

READ: Gilas’ Tim Cone says Scottie Thompson presence ‘irreplaceable’

“I don’t feel we’re shorthanded at all, I’m not a guy who plays 11 or 12 guys anyway,” explained Cone.

“You know me, I don’t play that many guys. I’m really an 8-9 man rotation. The reason why you have 12 guys is not necessarily for the game, you have 12 guys for practice. You have extra bodies in practice or in case somebody goes down. I don’t feel shorthanded, at all.”

Without a heady playmaker in Thompson, who has been dealing with a bulging disc, Brownlee made sure Gilas still got the ball moving with 15 assists.

Kai Sotto and Chris Newsome also stepped up in the absence of Malonzo and Edu, who are out with calf and knee injuries, respectively. Sotto and Newsome took care of business in the rebounding department, combining for 17 rebounds.

READ: Rankings don’t faze Justin Brownlee, Gilas in Latvia OQT

Dwight Ramos, meanwhile, led the way with 19 points, highlighted by four triples.

Cone, though, knows the OQT will require a lot more from his wards if Gilas is to defy the odds and claim a spot in the Paris Olympics.

“We got a lot of work to do ahead of us, that’s why we’re playing friendlies. Hopefully we get better and better as we move forward.”



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Gilas Pilipinas beats Taiwan Mustangs in tune-up before OQT

On: By: admin


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 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.