Photo from Fiba.com
FOSHAN, China—In his well-documented coaching career, and the entire country can attest to this, Yeng Guiao has never spoken this defeated before.
“There’s really no way we can match up with their talent, with their size, and of course, Serbia is a special team at this point,” Guiao told Filipino scribes here, minutes after his Gilas Pilipinas crew bombed out of contention after taking a 126-67 beating flush on the chin Monday night.
“I think they are going to end up playing in the finals and maybe even winning the whole thing.”
Guiao devised every defensive plan he could think of, goaded his players as much as he can, and still came up way, way short in what could go down as the worst whipping taken by any team in this 32-country event.
“They are just too big, too good. They are just a tough match-up for us no matter what we do,” Guiao went on in describing the Serbs. “They’re simply at a different level.”
Guiao and his Nationals are now left to pick up the pieces of what has turned out to be a disastrous campaign, having lost their first two games by an average of 52.5 points, the first being a 108-62 ripping at the hands of Italy.
Gilas plays Angola Wednesday afternoon for bragging rights of not being left as the only winless team in Group D.
Guiao, among his concerns, is worried about one thing.
“It would be hard to prop up the team’s spirits after losses like those,” he said.
But knowing Guiao—even after he sounded so overwhelmed by what has just happened—he always finds a way.