Some collapses need a highlight reel to be understood. This one just needs a calculator—or some important numbers. Gilas Pilipinas arrived in Aichi-Nagoya as the defending Asian Games champion and left with a finish so bad it required its own historical footnotes to properly contextualize. No dramatic buzzer-beater, no single gut-punch loss to point to—just a string of numbers, each one worse than the last, that together tell the story of exactly how far the defending champions fell. Here they are, laid out plainly.
1
Only once has a defending champion not made it even past the group stage. That one defending champion is the Philippines.
44
That’s China’s margin of victory over Gilas Pilipinas on Monday, and it’s the fourth most in these Asian Games. It trails only Indonesia’s 54-point loss to South Korea, Bahrain’s 46-point drubbing at the hands of China, and Indonesia’s 45-point blowout to Japan. More broadly, this 44-point margin is the worst beating absorbed by a defending champion in Asian Games history. It is also, according to PBA chief statistician Fidel Magno, the worst loss by Gilas Pilipinas since New Zealand dealt them a 106-60 rout on June 30, 2022, in the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.
61
That’s Gilas Pilipinas’ total points against China, and it also happens to be the fourth-lowest total in these Games, trailing only Indonesia’s 48 (vs. South Korea) and 53 (vs. Japan) and Bahrain’s 59 (vs. China).
25.6%
Overall, Gilas Pilipinas shot a respectable 35% from deep. But that clip is deceiving, propped up only by the nationals’ red-hot 16-for-29 shooting in their win against Kazakhstan. In their two losses, however, to Bahrain (10-for-34) and China (7-for-30), the Philippines shot a ghastly 25.6% from three.
60%
That’s the shooting clip Gilas Pilipinas surrendered from two-point territory across three games at Aichi International Center. It is the worst mark among all teams, narrowly beating out Kazakhstan’s 59%. One reason for this is the Philippines’ porous defense, which largely failed to contain the point of attack and routinely gave up driving lanes for layups. Overall, Gilas Pilipinas allowed opponents to shoot 49% from the field, the third-worst mark in the tournament.
9th
Gilas Pilipinas finished a dismal 9th in the tournament, the worst-ever finish by the Philippines in any Asian Games, according to Magno. The previous worst finish was 7th at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. What’s more, it’s the worst-ever finish by a defending men’s basketball champion in Asiad history, surpassing the Philippines’ own previous mark of 6th place at the 1966 Bangkok Asiad.
