The same players who suited up in Gilas Pilipinas’ 69-66 loss to New Zealand on Thursday will get another shot to notch a win in the second window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. That’s because Tim Cone has named all 12 of them to the lineup that will take on powerhouse Australia later tonight.
Thursday’s lineup featured AJ Edu, Justin Brownlee, Calvin Oftana, Dwight Ramos, and Cjay Perez, who started the game. It also included Quentin Millora-Brown, June Mar Fajardo, Carl Tamayo, Kevin Quiambao, Scottie Thompson, Chris Newsome, and Juan Gomez de Liaño.
Brownlee and Ramos played the most of that 12, logging 34 and 33 minutes, respectively. Brownlee, though, was shackled and scored just 4 points, while Ramos led the way with 16 points and 8 boards. Carl Tamayo and Chris Newsome, meanwhile, played the least, with Tamayo getting just five minutes and Newsome entering the court for just two.
A Gilas Pilipinas Bounce Back?
This Gilas Pilipinas squad will be seeking redemption and a third win in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, knowing they took New Zealand to the trenches. But for that to happen, they will have to play a lot better, as the Boomers might be even more formidable than the Tall Blacks.
In particular, Gilas Pilipinas will have to shoot way better versus Australia than they did against New Zealand. On Thursday, the nationals were putrid from the field, shooting just 32.5% overall and 18.9% from distance. That kind of shooting won’t win Gilas Pilipinas many games, let alone one against Australia.
The nationals will also need better games overall from Brownlee and Quiambao, whose combined 3-for-15 (0-for-8 from distance) certainly didn’t help against the Tall Blacks. Brownlee, though, will surely be a marked man, and that puts the pressure on Quiambao and the rest of the team to step up even more.
In other words, this 12-man lineup will need to be perfect, or somewhere close to it, if they want to beat the Boomers. Tipoff at the SM Mall of Asia Arena is at 7:30 p.m.
