FOSHAN, China — Gilas Pilipinas may have kissed its chances of making the second round of the FIBA World Cup after being handed a massive 108-62 defeat at the hands of well-efficient Italy Saturday nightat the Foshan International Sports and Cultural Center here.
The quest to score a gigantic upset became an immediate afterthought as the Italians performed like it was child’s play by racing to a 28-4 start while Gilas failed to hit its mark from the outside and committing some elementary turnovers.
So bad was Gilas’ shooting that it made only 3-of-23 from rainbow country, something that was marred during their tune-up defeats to Congo in Malaga and Australian club Adelaide 36ers in Manila.
Gilas missed the first 18 threes until Kiefer Ravena ended the drought with 7:03 left in the fourth.
By that time, Italy was ahead 90-46.
Not even the presence of President Rodrigo Duterte, who met the team before tipoff, was enough to inspire Gilas, which had hoped to start off the campaign with a bang in order to boost its chances of making the next round.
Instead, Gilas will have a mountain to climb Monday against World Cup contender Serbia before taking on Angola two days later in this city.
Serbia lived up true to its billing in the opener, crushing Angola, 105-52.
NBA player Danilo Gallinari played like he didn’t miss a beat, scoring 16 on 4-of-5 shooting from the three-point arc despite missing most of Italy’s warm-up matches after undergoing appendectomy procedure earlier this month.
In all, Italy made 15 threes.
Forward Luigi Datome of Turkish side Fenerbache also imposed his presence with 17 points while Amadeo Della Valle also scored 17, including a three-pointer that brought the Azzurri ahead 83-36, 1:43 to go in the third.
CJ Perez was the lone bright spot for the Philippines, showcasing his ability to attack the lane on his way to 15 points.
Naturalized player Andray Blatche also scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds but accounted for nine of 23 Gilas turnovers. (Jonas Terrado)
