Gilas Girls in the Fiba U16 Women’s Asian Championship Division B. –FIBA BASKETBALL
With little adjustments “here and there,” Pat Aquino is convinced that his gritty Gilas girls have what it takes to get past Malaysia Saturday in the semifinals of the Fiba (International Basketball Federation) U16 Women’s Asian Championship.
“We just [have to keep] on doing what we are doing—with little adjustment here and there,” Aquino said on the eve of his chargers’ clash with the Malaysians at Prince Hamza Hall in the city of Amman.
“They have shown grit and excitement during the games, and they are competing—and most of all, playing with a lot of heart,” he told the Inquirer on Friday.
A win will shove the young Filipinos to the title match against either Iran or Hong Kong, where what’s at stake is promotion to Division A in the region, something which Gilas missed achieving last year despite a similar 3-0 sweep of the elimination round.
And that is exactly what Aquino talked about, as he reiterated shielding his players from complacency and have a repeat of last year happen.
“We keep telling them that the three wins we have is nothing if we don’t get the next game,” he went on.Last year, the Philippines fell to a Samoan side they beat by 29 points in the eliminations, a punch in the gut that Aquino doesn’t want to see happening again.
“We are just keeping focus on the games ahead and not worrying about what could happen again,” Aquino said.
The Philippines and Malaysia have split their last two encounters in the Asian Championship, with the Filipinos losing the most recent clash by 11 points back in 2011.
Aquino said he is drawing comfort in having two holdovers who are keeping the squad in a certain levelheadedness ahead of the clash.
Ryan Nair and Ava Fajardo, who experienced firsthand the stunning loss to Samoa, have been vocal leaders within the Gilas quarters, according to Aquino. Their games are testaments to that with Nair topping the squad in efficiency with 19.3 and Fajardo leading the scoring with 16.3 points per contest.