THE PHILIPPINES’ Andray Blatche leads the Gilas charge. AFP
SEVILLE, Spain – Gilas Pilipinas and Andray Blatche drove one point very clear after just one game in the Fiba World Cup here.
“Coming in here, a lot of people doubted us and saw us as an easy match,” Blatche told the Inquirer, less than a couple of hours after giving European power Croatia a big scare and dropping a painful 78-81 overtime decision at Centro Deportivo San Pablo Saturday afternoon.
“One thing about it (even after losing) is that we are confident now,” the former Brooklyn Nets player continued after shooting 28 points and grabbing 12 rebounds against a squad laden with his fellow NBA veterans.
“We now know that we belong and we can keep our heads up.”
The Filipinos trailed the Croats by 15 points early, fought back despite getting the raw end of the deal in one crucial stretch near the end of the third before leading by three with under three minutes left in regulation.
“I just felt that we had a chance to win and I was hoping that we could have pulled it off,” Blatche said. “A lot of teams would have given in, down by 15 points. We put ourselves in a position to win and we just fell short.”
Jason Castro, regarded as the best point guard in Asia after earning inclusion to the Mythical Team in the Qualifying event in Manila last year, was slapped a technical foul after a referee accused him of ‘flopping’ in trying to fish for an offensive foul against Kronoslav Simon.
That resulted in two free throws and an extra possession for the Croats, who turned it into a three-point field goal that erected a 57-49 bubble going into the fourth quarter.
“That’s the difference in the game,” coach Chot Reyes said.
Castro, meanwhile, said that he took such a hard hit that he was still feeling the forearm of Simon even while he was having a late lunch at the official athlete’s residence.
“It was really a foul,” Castro said in Filipino while downing a plateful of pasta. “I can still feel his forearm in my chest.”
The Philippines plays Greece at 8 p.m. Sunday (2 a.m. Manila time Monday) and Blatche now believes that advancing to the KO stages is now possible after their performance against Croatia.
“A lot of teams woke up and realized what kind of a team we are,” he said. “For me, I will take the same kind of intensity (in the next games). I will come over with a lot of heart and see how it goes.”
Gilas Pilipinas needs to win at least two games in order to have a shot at advancing past the group stages.
After Greece Sunday, the Filipinos will collide with former world champion Argentina on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) before taking a day’s break and returning to collide with Puerto Rico on Wednesday.
Senegal, a squad which coach Chot Reyes said “dwarfs all of us in the group,” will be Gilas’ last preliminary phase assignment on Thursday.
The Philippines has not won a World Cup game in close to four decades, having last seen action in this tournament in 1978.
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