Philippines ‘can’t afford to lose’ vs Iran, says Tenorio

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

The Philippines’ stunning loss to Kazakhstan in the fifth window of the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers had a bigger consequence than just an upset defeat, it also took away Gilas Pilipinas’ solo grip on the third spot.

Instead of tying Iran at the second seed of Group F with a 6-3 record, Gilas slipped into a third-place tie with Japan and that’s not exactly prime real estate for the Fiipinos.

Captain Gabe Norwood said the whole team is aware of its predicament in the tournament that will send just seven teams out of the remaining 12 into the 2019 Fiba Basketball World Cup in China.

“I think the whole team knows the gravity of our situation, and we all knew what we want to accomplish once we wore those colors,” said Norwood Friday at Mall of Asia Arena.

Gilas fell to a same 5-4 record and as the Akatsuki Five in Group F and this spells trouble for the Philippines’ for a slot in the World Cup.

The top three teams from the Groups E and F and only the better of the two fourth placers will advance to China and the Philippines has to lock up at least the third spot to avoid any complications moving forward.

LA Tenorio said the team has the tiniest of margins for error and the only thing they can do now is to not let up especially with their game against Iran happening on Monday.

“We cannot afford to lose, the margin of error is getting smaller but we still have a chance,” said Tenorio.

Norwood added that their responsibility is upon them and they have to answer that call no matter what happens.

“That’s the challenge that’s been set in front of us, and hopefully as competitors and professionals we accept it and make the most out of it,” said Norwood.

Despite the disappointing loss, Tenorio found a silver lining that he harkened back to the 2013 Fiba Asia Championship when the Philippines lost to Chinese-Taipei 84-79 in the group stage.

The Philippines were able to recover from that loss and advance to the 2014 Fiba Basketball World Cup after taking the silver medal.

“The last time we had a painful loss here in MOA was against Chinese-Taipei and it became our wakeup call because we became more focused and we made it to the World Cup,” said Tenorio.