Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Chairman Emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan has expressed elation on the recent performance of Gilas Pilipinas that saw them winning handily against two Northeast Asian neighbors.
During the 2023 fullyear briefing of PLDT where he also serves as Chairman, Pangilinan gave the takeaways on the men’s national team as requested by this writer.
“I went to the dugout and told coach Tim (Cone) the team’s performace is impressive,” Pangilinan said.
In a jest, the long-time basketball benefactor described as “boring” the 53-point crushing of Chinese Taipei. The 106-53 win last month was part of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifier. Powered by naturalized player Justin Brownlee with combined veterans and new standouts, Gilas also drubbed Hongkong 94-64 in the latter’s homecourt.
The next matches of Gilas will be in Latvia this July where the Philippines is grouped with Georgia and the host country. The games are part of the preliminaries for the 2027 FIBA World Basketball Cup in Qatar.
For the Paris Olympics, Pangilinan said the nationals will be in the wildcard.
