FOSHAN, China – Serbia coach Aleksandar Djordjevic didn’t mince words when he noted the lack of quality Gilas Pilipinas had during their FIBA World Cup match Monday evening here.
“I think you showed some talent, some quickness. But obviously, you’re missing quality, and these two games are a result of that,” Djordjevic said his team’s 126-67 win at the Foshan International Sports and Cultural Center.
Gilas got a dose of harsh reality since Group D play began last Saturday, losing to Italy and Serbia by a combined margin of 105 points.
The Filipinos were a step too slow against Italy’s quick passes and terrific percentage from the outside resulted in a 108-62 defeat.
Despite showing some aggressiveness early, Serbia was able to impose his size advantage and reputation as one of the world’s top basketball nations on its way to the biggest winning margin of this group.
The Philippines did try to keep things as respectable as possible with flashes of brilliance from rookies CJ Perez and Robert Bolick, Paul Lee and June Mar Fajardo but turnovers led to easy fastbreak points from the Serbians.
“Two top European teams who know how to play basketball; tough physical basketball. Maybe (it is something that is) to think about in the future,” added the former Yugoslavian national team player.
Seven-foot-three NBA center Boban Marjanovic, however, was more diplomatic when Filipino reporters caught up with the newly-acquired Dallas Maverick at the mixed zone area.
“I think they’re a really good team,” Marjanovic said. “When we watched the film about them, they really play hard, they really play tough, they really play smart.
“I think we didn’t make too much mistakes, they make more mistakes. I think we win this game because we played super good.” he added. (Jonas Terrado)