Sa kabila ng mabigat na pagkatalo ng Gilas Pilipinas sa FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, nananatiling matatag ang suporta ng mga Pilipino. Kamakailan, tinambakan ng New Zealand Tall Blacks ang Gilas sa iskor na 87-70 sa Spark Arena sa Auckland noong Pebrero 23, 2025. Sa harap ng mga Pinoy fans at manonood mula sa iba’t ibang bahagi ng mundo, nahirapan ang Gilas sa bilis at depensa ng kanilang kalaban.

Mula sa unang yugto pa lang, agad nang ipinakita ng New Zealand ang kanilang pwersa. Aminado si Coach Tim Cone na dinomina sila ng Tall Blacks mula simula. “The Tall Blacks came out and just smashed us early. They gave us a smash-mouth in the first quarter, and we just really never recovered. They came out all guns firing,” aniya.

Isa rin sa kanyang pangamba ang epekto ng kanilang friendlies sa Doha, na maaaring hindi nakatulong sa halip na nakapagpahina pa sa kanilang paghahanda. “You know, we were able to do a Doha trip before we came here just to try to get more time together and play more games. And it probably hurt us more than it helped us in terms of being ready for Taiwan and New Zealand,” dagdag ni Cone.

Sa unang quarter pa lang, lumobo agad sa 30-15 ang kalamangan ng New Zealand. Kahit ilang beses sumubok ang Gilas na makalapit, hindi nila nahanap ang tamang ritmo upang makabawi. Pinangunahan ni Chris Newsome ang opensa ng Gilas na may 13 puntos, sinundan ni June Mar Fajardo na may 11 puntos at 5 rebounds, habang may 10 puntos at 4 rebounds naman si Justin Brownlee.

Gayunpaman, hindi nagawang mapanatili ng Gilas ang kanilang momentum. “We had our opportunities to get the game tighter, but we just couldn’t make a big shot here or there. Maybe we would have gotten the game a little closer. But as it turned out, they ran away [with] it,” ani Cone.

Malaking kawalan para sa Gilas ang pagkawala ni Kai Sotto dahil sa injury. Aminado si Cone na malaking adjustment ang kinakailangan ng koponan upang matutong maglaro nang wala ang kanilang 7-foot-3 center. “We lost a really key player for a year in Kai, and we’re still trying to adjust how to play without him. That’s something we’re going to be talking about as we go into the FIBA Asia Cup,” paliwanag ng coach.

Sa kabila ng pagkatalo, hindi bumitaw ang suporta ng Filipino fans sa Auckland. Pakiramdam ng Tall Blacks, hindi sila naglalaro sa sariling bansa. “It was basically an away game at home with that crowd,” ani Tohi Smith-Milner ng New Zealand.

Ganito rin ang pananaw ni Newsome: “What you saw in the crowd tonight, that’s a Filipino staple. No matter where you go in the world, you’re going to see the Filipino people show up for their basketball team.”

Sa individual performances, nagpakitang-gilas si AJ Edu na may 7 puntos, 15 rebounds, at 1 block, muling pinatunayan ang kanyang halaga sa koponan.

Bagama’t masakit ang pagkatalo, positibo pa rin si Cone sa pag-aaral ng kanilang mga pagkukulang. “Everything we do is cumulative. We’re trying to take each window as an experience and move it on to the next one and hopefully grow it and improve,” aniya.

Para naman kay New Zealand coach Judd Flavell, hindi na sila nagulat sa ingay ng Filipino crowd. “That crowd, even when they (Gilas) were down 20 or whatever it was, they were still right into the game. I felt like the game was tighter than what it was just based on that. Typically, the crowd is quiet when that’s the case,” aniya.

Dagdag pa niya, “The atmosphere was something else. I think the Philippines in particular, that’s what you get. We kind of knew that. We didn’t talk too much, but I guess everybody, when they signed up for this game, knew that this was probably going to happen.”

Bagama’t matindi ang pagkatalo, kailangang matuto ang Gilas mula rito. Sa kanilang susunod na laban, mahalagang mag-adjust ang koponan, lalo na sa depensa at consistency sa shooting, upang maiwasan ang ganitong klaseng resulta. Habang patuloy ang kanilang laban sa FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, asahan na mas determinado silang bumawi sa susunod na pagkakataon.

Larawan: FIBA.BASKETBALL