Thirdy Ravena leads Gilas Pilipinas vs India. –FIBA BASKETBALL
MANILA, Philippines — Thirdy Ravena admitted Gilas Pilipinas was a bit tense to start the match before finding its rhythm to blast India in the second half for its first win in the 2022 Fiba Asia Cup.
The 6-foot-3 guard sparked the Philippines off the bench to break a 13-all deadlock and set the pace for their 101-59 rout of India to secure a spot in the next round on Friday at Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Ravena said they started out the game “a little bit sloppy and a little bit too loose” which resulted in their lethargic opening quarter.
“We know India’s a very fast-paced team and they would run out in transition whenever you make mistakes off turnovers or when we make bad shots and we don’t get match up quickly, they’re just gonna run us out,” said Ravena. “Luckily we were able to bounce back from that in the second half. We talked about it in the first half that we played a little too down, a little too grumpy.”
The 25-year-old Gilas mainstay showed no signs of his eye injury from a face-first fall in their 80-95 loss to Lebanon two days ago after he dropped 17 points on efficient 7-of-8 shooting to go with five rebounds, two steals, and an assist to tow India.
Ravena said their 42-point rout was a result of their better teamwork in their much-needed conquest.
“It just goes to show that when you play as a team and you enjoy each other’s success when you follow the system and trust one another. Things will definitely pay off,” he said.
Although they earned their first win on a high note, the former Ateneo Blue Eagle said they have to be more focused, more controlled and continue to trust each other and coach Chot Reyes’ system against New Zealand on Sunday at 9 p.m. (Manila time).
“We can’t be satisfied we have another game against New Zealand. They’re a very very strong team. With the mistakes we made earlier, they will definitely punish us if we make it in that game,” Ravena said. “So we have to improve some of our technicalities and some of our tactics in the game. We just have to respect every opponent that we have. That’s what we did today and I’m very proud but it’s time to move on to the next game.”
Only the top team from each group will earn an outright quarterfinals berth, leaving the second and third seed squads in a crossover match against Nos.2 and 3 of Pool C.