Gilas pays price anew for losing offensive rebounding battle
MANILA, Philippines – For another game, Gilas Pilipinas was not able to contain the offensive rebounding of the opposing team.
Gilas allowed Angola to grab 20 offensive rebounds compared to 12 of their own in their 80-70 defeat in their FIBA World Cup clash Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Despite this, the Nationals were outrebounded by just four in total, 43-39.
Nevertheless, Gilas head coach Chot Reyes said the team was “hammered” on the boards.
“We gave up 20 offensive rebounds to the other team, and in the end, that was the story,” Reyes said.
“It was just the matter of size and strength, I think,” he added.
The team’s defense, which had “a lot of scrambling,” did not help the team, the tactician bared.
“That does not put us in good position. But, that combination of scrambling, and perhaps the lack of reminders to continuously put their bodies and screen off, it was tough,” he said.
“You could see Angola put three big men at a time there so it was really tough. We knew we were in for a tough rebounding night,” he added.
In their first game of the tournament, Gilas also allowed the Dominican Republic to haul down 17 offensive rebounds compared to only three for them.
Aside from the rebounds, Gilas also had a cold shooting game from beyond the arc. The Filipinos punched in just four of their 22 attempts from the 3-point area, good for 18.2%.
Angola, in contrast, was 9-of-31 from the area for 29%.
The Philippines is eyeing to tally its first win in the basketball meet on Tuesday against World No. 10 Italy.
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