by Ashley Bercasio
New Zealand gave Gilas Pilipinas a rude welcome as the Tall Blacks dealt the national squad a crushing 106-60 beating in the third window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers on Thursday, June 30, at EventFinda Stadium in Auckland.
Carl Tamayo served as the lone bright spot for the Philippines after tallying 16 points and five rebounds before going down with an ankle sprain in the fourth quarter.
Gilas was outclassed by the Tall Blacks, losing the game by 46 points, and allowing the home team to score on 50% of its possessions while only shooting 33.9% themselves, including a measly 4 of 26 at the three-point line.
The smaller Gilas squad also got outrebounded, 47-33, and coughed up 19 turnovers.
“Very tough night for this young team. We came across a Tall Blacks team that is playing with a high intensity and very good execution. We struggled to contain them in that part of the game with the physicality, intensity and the speed and we struggled offensively to get things going.” head coach Nenad Vucinic said at the post-game press conference.
New Zealand had a scintillating first quarter, but the Philippines managed to hang on for half of the period courtesy of Tamayo’s five-point spurt and baskets from Dwight Ramos and William Navarro.
Then things started going sour for the Philippines. New Zealand went on a 10-0 tear capped by a booming three-pointer from Shea Ili to close the first canto, 23-13.
The second quarter was even more excruciating for Gilas as they only managed to squeeze out eight points while New Zealand shredded the notational squad’s defense to put up 24 markers en route to a 47-21 lead going into the half.
Highlighted by two poster-worthy dunks from Jordan Ngatai, the Tall Blacks continued its offensive assault in the second half as they registered their biggest lead following Flynn Cameron’s layup with 1:41 remaining in the game clock.
Six New Zealand players registered double-digit scoring with Dion Prewster and Finn Delany leading the charge with 15 and 14 points, respectively.
“It is a good thing for the young team, for the young players to understand what level we need to be at to play high-level international basketball. Tall Blacks have dominated us in all aspects of the game and is something that will help us get better in the future,” Vucinic added.
Gilas heads home for its match against India on Sunday, July 3, at the Mall of Asia Arena. – bny
