Numbers rarely lie, and in Gilas Pilipinas’ 69-66 loss to New Zealand in the second window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, the box score reveals exactly why the Tall Blacks escaped with a heartstopping win. From inefficient shooting to a lopsided bench battle and a rare off night from their biggest star, the statistics paint a clear picture of how the game slipped away from the Filipinos.
Here’s Gilas vs. New Zealand by the numbers.
32.5
That’s the shooting percentage of Gilas Pilipinas against New Zealand, and the word atrocious comes to mind—even ghastly and terrible. Put simply, Gilas isn’t beating any high-level team shooting 26-for-80. Tim Cone and his wards were only in the game because the Tall Blacks didn’t shoot too well either, going 24-for-67 for an equally bad 35.8% clip.
23
That’s how many bench points Gilas got on Thursday, and for a team stacked with talent, that’s simply unacceptable. Juan Gomez de Liaño accounted for 10 of Gilas’ 23 points, followed by Quentin Millora-Brown’s 7. Kevin Quiambao, one of the national team’s young cornerstones, finished with just 2, while Carl Tamayo had 3. In contrast, New Zealand’s bench poured in 46, with Max Darling, Alex McNaught, and Tyrell Harrison firing 11, 10, and 9, respectively.
4
That’s the total number of points Justin Brownlee scored for Gilas. It’s by far JB’s worst output for the national team, and it couldn’t have come at a worse possible time. In a game where offense was hard to come by, a Brownlee explosion would’ve made a huge difference, but it didn’t come.
18
That’s the number of turnovers the national squad forced on Thursday night. Part of the reason New Zealand had to sweat out their third victory in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers was the Philippines’ swarming defense, which not only limited the Tall Blacks’ shooting, but also forced them to cough the ball up 18 times. Gilas converted those 18 turnovers into 20 points, while New Zealand scored just 8 off 11 errors from the Philippines.
5-11-3-1-3
That’s AJ Edu’s stat line. A FIBA World Cup veteran, Edu anchored Gilas’ stout defense, protecting the paint, playing the passing lanes, and shutting off driving lanes with his athleticism and defensive smarts. With main big Kai Sotto out, Edu held down the fort and nearly helped Gilas pull off the stunner.
20-9
That’s the scoreline in the third quarter, and it proved to be the difference. Gilas had momentum going into halftime, erasing a double-digit lead in the second quarter with a scintillating 10-0 end-of-the-half run. But the team surrendered all that momentum in the third, ultimately entering the fourth with an 11-point deficit.
