Gilas gets second crack at South Korea in final pre-Asian Games tuneup

MANILA, Philippines -- Needing some stride before flying to Japan for the Achi-Nagoya Asian Games, Gilas Pilipinas takes on South Korea once again in the Hana Invitational pocket tournament Sunday at the Suwon KT Sonicboom Arena with hopes of getting back after a flat start in its first match together.

The newly assembled Nationals absorbed an 81-55 beating in their first encounter on Friday as the South Koreans led from start to finish at home, looking good after their 85-72 win over Saudi Arabia at the same city last week in Window 4 of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

Gilas, for its part, had a different crew – an all-PBA unit without naturalized Justin Brownlee – as only RJ Abarrientos Ginebra, Justin Arana and Justine Baltazar of Converge joined the new Asian Games team from the FIBA team that beat Jordan, 82-81, and Iran, 68-56, at home.

The Philippines and South Korea had similar 4-4 records in the World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

But head coach Tim Cone isn’t with his original FIBA team since 2023, forming two separate teams for FIBA and Asian Games owing to the unavailability of Filipino imports from the Japan B. League and Korean Basketball League without a FIBA break for the continental games.

The Gilas Asiad team actually looked good in scrimmages, even beating the Gilas FIBA team in their intra-squad scrimmage since the training camp started last month, but struggled against the hot-shooting Koreans.

After a close 18-24 score in the first, Gilas faltered and trailed 33-45 at the turn. South Korea never stepped foot on the brakes since then for a 26-point win.

Baltazar led the way for Gilas with 15 points followed by Rain or Shine’s Adrian Nocum with 10. Gilas ace Robert Bolick of NLEX, who led the SEA Games gold medal-winning squad last year, bled for just two points.

Other PBA gunners Sedrick Barefield of Blackwater, Don Trollano and Jerrick Ahanmisi of San Miguel and Abarrientos also struggled for Gilas, completed by Magnolia’s Zavier Lucero, Meralco’s Brandon Bates and Talk ‘N Text’s Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser.

“This Korean team has been playing the windows so they've been together for a while,” said Cone, slowly but surely building the chemistry for his new squad tasked to defend the throne in Asiad after snapping the country’s 61-year gold medal drought in 2023 Hangzhou Games.

“This trip to Korea is going to help the team a lot in terms of the experience of the international brand of basketball. It’s good that we experience it now, especially for these players. So, when it comes to Nagoya, they know what to expect. This is like a dress rehearsal for us.”

After the tuneup, Cone and company will fly to Nagoya Monday for the Asiad men’s basketball on September 10, testing its mettle against Bahrain, Kazakhstan and China in Group C.

Korea, on the other hand, is in Group A with host Japan, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. Group B has Iran, Jordan, Chinese Taipei and Qatar, the host of the 2027 FIBA World Cup.