Perez blames self for late key miscue

CJ Perez shines in another game for Gilas Pilipinas. FIBA PHOTO

FOSHAN, China—CJ Perez blames it on inexperience—and himself.

The Gilas Pilipinas rookie talked like a grizzled veteran after an 84-81 overtime loss to Angola on Wednesday night in the Fiba World Cup, owning up to the failure of the Filipinos to launch a decent attempt inside the final 5.2 seconds, which could have given them the win in regulation.

“It was my decision, I was supposed to drive,” Perez answered during the postgame interview after someone asked him why the Filipinos were never able to run a play inside those last 5.2 seconds coming off a timeout.

“Maybe I should have driven [to the lane].”

Nobody is really blaming Perez, who scored 17 points, as the Nationals wouldn’t have been in that position in the first place if not for him and Andray Blatche.

“I guess it was my inexperience [in international play],” said the Columbian Jeep star in the PBA. “We had a chance to win. The effort of the team was there.”

Perez’s scoring total was built around three triples and a 3-for-5 clip from two-point zone, Perez definitely played the finest game by any homegrown talent in the Gilas team in the tournament.

Winning would have been the perfect culmination for his efforts—and the entire team’s as well—and the likes of backcourt mate Kiefer Ravena would have cried tears of joy instead of disappointment.

“That’s basketball,” he said in Filipino in another interview. “Someone has to win and someone has to lose. It’s just a pity that we lost that one.”