While the Nationals earned praise for putting up a fight in their 83-74 loss to a higher ranked Turkey in their tuneup game in Istanbul, the outcome still left Gilas in disappointment as it only showed that the team is still far from where it wants to be.
With only more than a week left before the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia, the Gilas coaching staff stressed that they cannot be satisfied with"almost winning", noting that they need to get the job done if they wish to make it to the Paris Olympics.
Gilas displayed its ability to be competitive against the world No. 25 Turkey, hanging tough in the first half and only trailed by two, 42-40, at the break. Behind Justin Brownlee and June Mar Fajardo, Gilas unloaded a 10-2 burst to come within three, 78-75, before ultimately fading down the stretch as Tarik Biberovic delivered the dagger triple with 51 seconds left.
Their defense also had room for improvement especially with Kai Sotto failing to make his presence felt after picking up three fouls in the first half alone.
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