“Laro ng gilas, kulang sa kalidad” -DJORDJEVIC

"WHAT can I say? Tough loss is always a tough loss," saad ni Serbia coach Sasha Djordjevic hinggil sa estilo ng laro ng Gilas Pilipinas. "It depends how you're going to react."

Sa kabilang banda sinabi ni Djordjevic na ang Philippine team aniya, “showed some talent, some quickness. But obviously,” dagdag niya, “you’re missing quality.”

Kitang-kita niya iyan sa naging laro ng Gilas kontra Italy at Serbia sa FIBA World Cup 2019 sa Foshan, China. “Two European tough teams, European teams who know how to play basketball, tough, physical basketball, that’s the result,” ani Djordjevic. “Maybe (it’s something) to think about in the future.”

Aminado si Gilas Pilipinas coach Yeng Guiao na ang nagdaang dalawang laro ay masasabing learning experience para sa kanya at sa buong team. “We’re playing Asian level basketball and competing very well at the Asian level, but of course, the world level is different,” saad niya. “Several notches different.”

“We need certain types of players, we need the exposure to the level of play. So these are the things that I guess we need to work on,” dagdag niya. “So it’s a learning experience, definitely.”

Samantala, alam ni Angola head coach Will Voigt kung gaano kainit sa puso ng mga Pinoy ang basketball, kaya alam na niya na isang malaking bagay ang crowd kontra Gilas Pilipinas sa FIBA World Cup ngayong hapon sa Foshan International Sports and Cultural Center.

Namalagi na si American Voigt sa Pilipinas noong mag-coach sa Phoenix Fuel Masters sa PBA nang imbitahan ni dating coach Ariel Vanguardia. “Coach Ariel is a friend of mine. He had come to the US when I was coaching in the D-League. And he invited me to come and help his team, this was when he was coaching Phoenix,” aniya.

“So I was coaching in China and just finished my season here, so it was kind of close by, and went over there and spent two weeks with their team,” dagdag niya.

Malapit sa puso ni Voigt ang Pilipinas at alam niya ang hilig sa basketball ng mga Pinoy, kaya aniya determinado ang team vs. Angola bagamat 0-2 ang record sa Group D ng Gilas nang matalo sa European powerhouses na Italy at Serbia.