Short-handed Gilas Youth seeks to go out on a high note

Trying hard but falling short the first two times up, the hardy Gilas Pilipinas Youth squad tries to take the door with some respect when it clashes with Russia Tuesday to close out its 2019 Fiba U19 World Cup campaign in Heraklion, Greece.

The Filipinos dropped their first two games, suffering an 85-69 loss to host Greece two days ago and falling short at the hands of Argentina, 77-72, Sunday.

Russia split its first two games in the Group C preliminary round and would need to win against the Filipinos to have a chance at advancing past the group phase. The Russians took an overtime defeat at the hands of Argentina before rebounding with an 83-75 victory over Greece.

It’s been a challenging campaign so far for the young Nationals, who lost one half of their twin towers in AJ Edu to a knee injury just two minutes into the opener against Greece.

Edu had already been ruled out for the rest of the tournament after initial findings showed the do-it-all big man suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus tear in his right knee and a hairline fracture in his right femur bone.

Edu, a force on both ends of the floor, couldn’t hide his disappointment and vowed to come back stronger.

“This is very disappointing. It’s something I have been thinking about all year ever since we qualified. To go out right at the start was very disappointing,” Edu said in a report on Fiba.com.

“It’s the first time I have ever had a knee injury. It’s quite unlucky but these things happen. It’s part of life. I’m gonna be back stronger. I’m not worried.”

The 19-year-old Edu said he was also overwhelmed with his countrymen’s support.

“The response has been unbelievable. I never really understood how much support I would have. When it hit me, the number of people who were praying for me and sending me messages, it was just unbelievable. I’m just so proud that I can at least represent the Philippines for a little bit.”

With Edu sidelined, Gilas Youth will have to draw bigger contributions from the likes of 7-foot-2 Kai Sotto, Carl Tamayo, Dave Ildefonso and others the rest of the way.

Edu has no doubt his teammates can get the job done.

“We’re still a good team. Obviously I was a big contributor but we still have Kai (Sotto), Carl (Tamayo) and (Shaun) Chiu. So we still have players who can do stuff. As long as they play with heart I will be there supporting them the whole time. I am just going to enjoy watching these guys represent us.”