Gold was the goal coming into the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup, according to Tim Cone, and yet his Gilas Pilipinas squad won’t be getting any medal of color after getting knocked out of the tournament by Australia in the quarterfinals. That brutal beat down from Australia put an end to an uneven tournament for Gilas marked by frustrating lows and exhilarating highs—along with some sleepless nights for hoops-loving Pinoys who followed the action religiously.
Now, with Gilas Pilipinas back to the proverbial drawing board and Cone still dreaming that continuity is the answer, let’s look back at what happened to the national team in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup, what went wrong, and who stood out.
What Happened to Gilas Pilipinas?
Yes, we know the “wound” is still fresh, but it’s worth rehashing anyway: Gilas Pilipinas lost a game it should’ve won—against Chinese Taipei in the tournament opener—and then fell short against Oceania powerhouse New Zealand. The loss to the Taiwanese was particularly jarring as the nationals were largely undone by one flat, uninspired first half where Chinese Taipei built a 43-34 cushion.
That opening day loss put the Philippines in a must-win game against the Tall Blacks, who were among the favorites to land a medal in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Another poor first half got Gilas playing from behind again, though they were able to get to within three, 85-82, in a furious second half fight back. The nationals came up short, however, and all of a sudden, they were staring at a win-or-go game against Iraq a couple of days later.
The Filipinos did escape Iraq, but not after some tense moments—notably another flat first quarter where the Iraqis built an18-12 lead. Next came a date against the host team, Saudi Arabia, who looked headed for a massive upset until Justin Brownlee conjured some late-game magic yet again to rescue the Philippines.
Of course, everyone knows what happened next: Australia, in the words of Cone, happened.
What Went Wrong for Gilas Pilipinas?
Put simply and bluntly, a lot went wrong for Gilas Pilipinas in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup. Here are four notables:
- Gilas shoot poorly—especially from three. It’s no secret that the three ball is a huge weapon in FIBA play, and yet Gilas couldn’t hit it consistently. In five games, Gilas Pilipinas went 44-for-146 from downtown for an atrocious 30.1% clip, which is the 12th-worst three-point shooting percentage among 16 teams in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup. Overall, the Philippines’ True Shooting Percentage was 50.42%—a ghastly number for a team with golden aspirations.
- Gilas couldn’t defend the three ball. Not only did Gilas Pilipinas struggle making treys, they also struggled defending the arc, allowing their opponents to shoot a combined 58-for-145 from downtown for a 40.4% clip, which is the same percentage as tournament leaders Australia and China. Moreover, each team Gilas faced save for Iraq hit at least 11 triples, with the Aussies sinking 7 of their 11 in the first quarter alone and the Tall Blacks making 13 out of 26 attempts.
- Gilas couldn’t defend—period. The nationals’ struggles defending the three ball were basically offshoots of their defensive shortcomings everywhere else. Among the notable issues that plagued Gilas Pilipinas’ defense were their inability to contain the point of attack, poor pick-and-roll defense, and difficulty keeping perimeter players off the paint. Often, one blow-by, usually off the pick-and-roll, was all it took to get Gilas scrambling on defense, and it often resulted in late closeouts on open shooters from downtown.
- Gilas lacked playmakers. Against Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Justin Brownlee, Dwight Ramos, and Kevin Quiambao proved to be enough—but not against the better teams, particularly New Zealand and Australia. The Boomers, in particular, keyed in on Brownlee and took him out of the game completely, leaving Ramos and Quiambao to try and make plays for Gilas Pilipinas.
Who Stood Out for Gilas Pilipinas?
While it’s easy to call out players who underperformed, it might be better to give credit to those who rose to the occasion and carried the Philippine flag with pride, starting with the aforementioned trio of Brownlee, Ramos, and Quiambao.
Brownlee, of course, has been phenomenal ever since putting on that Gilas jersey, and the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup was no exception. Kabayan, for the tournament, put up 20.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists with a True Shooting Percentage of 66.7% (59% from 2PT, 48.3 from 3PT, and 71.4% from FT). He also conjured some magic, nearly leading Gilas’ fight back versus New Zealand and hitting that game-tying triple against Saudi Arabia in the playoff.
Ramos, meanwhile, has been one of Gilas’ premier contributors these past couple of years, and he continued that trend by averaging 16.8 points and 6.0 rebounds in Jeddah. He was basically the Robin to Brownlee’s Batman as he showed he is ready to be a Gilas cornerstone in the years to come. About the only blemish to Ramos’s otherwise stellar showing in Saudi Arabia was his woeful three-point shooting—just 20.6% on 34 attempts overall.
Quiambao, on the other hand, was a revelation as he put up 12.0 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists on 44.4% from downtown. What made KQ’s 2025 FIBA Asia Cup run remarkable was that he didn’t play a single minute in the first half of that opening-day loss to Chinese Taipei, played less than 10 minutes against New Zealand, and didn’t crack 15 minutes against Iraq. But when he was on the floor, good things happened as he proved that the bright lights aren’t too bright for a young gun like him.
Finally, AJ Edu was superb as well as he emerged as Gilas’ best defender by far, posting 1.6 rejections and 0.8 steals a game to go along with his 8.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 2.8 assists. Long in Kai Sotto’s looming shadows, Edu showed in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup he could hold his own as Gilas’ top big man and is ready to be one of the national team’s cornerstones, along with Quiambao and Ramos.
What Lies Ahead for Gilas Pilipinas?
The next time Gilas Pilipinas will reconvene will be in November later this year when they begin the journey towards possibly qualifying for the 2027 FIBA World Cup. Their first two games in the World Cup Qualifiers will be a home-and-home series versus Guam, with the nationals travelling to the Calvo Field House for an away game on November 28. They two nations will play again on December 1, this time in the Philippines.
From the looks of things, this same team, more or less, will be playing in that window as Cone has already said that he prefers to keep this group together. A positive development to watch out for, though, is Quentin Millora-Brown’s reclassification from naturalized player to local. If true, Cone might just have to make some changes to welcome the 6-foot-10 Fil-Am into the fold while also opening up a spot for Kai Sotto, who might be ready to play by then.
Until then, fans can only commiserate on what happened in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup and hope that the team and coaching staff learn from the lessons of this tournament and get better moving forward. This is especially true since Gilas Pilipinas will also be taking on New Zealand and Australia in the World Cup Qualifiers.
