Gilas Pilipinas put up a formidable defense, neutralizing Chinese Taipei's top shooters en route to a dominating 106-53 victory in their Group B matchup of the Fiba Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers First Window at the PhilSports Complex in Pasig City on Sunday night, February 25.
Justin Brownlee, though feeling under the weather with travel fatigue from Gilas’ Hong Kong 94-64 win, spearheaded the team's effort with an impressive double-double, contributing 26 points and 13 rebounds along with five assists, one steal, and two blocks.
Kai Sotto replicated the feat with 18 points and 10 rebounds, showcasing versatility with five assists and three blocks.
Supporting the dynamic duo, Calvin Oftana, Dwight Ramos, Carl Vincent Tamayo, and Karl Kevin Quiambao chipped in 13, 12, 11, and 10 points, respectively.
Brownlee, in a post-game interview, underscored their teamwork and defense were pivotal to their lopsided win.
"Coach Tim (Cone) told us to share the ball, cover the ball... ball movement, get everybody involved," said the naturalized player who was instrumental in the Philippines' historic golden finish in the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Cone, expressing pride in the team's efforts during the post-game press conference via FIBA Media YouTube, commended the Nationals for their hard work on both ends of the floor throughout the 40 minutes.
He acknowledged that Chinese Taipei was a talented team, having played the world's No. 21 team New Zealand in all four quarters just a few days ago.
"These guys (Gilas) just worked hard and made them look bad. I'm especially impressed with the way we were able to work and defend them, giving them a hard time," Cone said.
Echoing his statements, Gilas center Sotto added, "We just came out strong defensively. We played good team defense, then offense just came after. I'm just happy everybody contributed offensively and defensively."
Cheng Liu paced the Chinese Taipei team with 13 points as teammates Sin-Kuan Lin had six, and Zong Rong Hsieh and Hao Chi Wang made identical six points.
Gilas Pilipinas dominated the rebounding department with 57 boards from all 10 players, while Chinese Taipei recorded 29.
Additionally, Gilas capitalized on 20 points from their opponent's turnovers.
The host squad dominated at all fronts against Chinese Taipei: leading in assists (30-11), blocks (8-1), fast break points (19-2), second-chance points (16-6), points in the paint (64-12), and points from the bench (35-17).
Cone underscored the team's commitment. "We demanded from everybody, `You can't be in this team if you can't play both sides of the ball.' You need to put it out there defensively. They are all offensive stars. Now we have 12 guys committed to the defensive side. I'm very proud of this team so far, a long way to go."
Sotto attributed his confidence to their rigorous preparations during the Inspire Sports training camp, where they trained twice a day.
"It was tough and tiring, but I've learned so much. As Coach Tim said, it showed today. I'm very confident that we all worked together. We all got better together," he said. "I've got my brothers behind me to lift me up and I'm gonna do the same thing for them. It's contagious so it's a good team environment. I'm very happy with the result."
Looking ahead to the second window, No. 38 Gilas Pilipinas is set to face No. 8 Latvia in June.
In the second window, No. 38 Gilas Pilipinas will play against will play No. 8 Latvia sometime in June.
In the meantime, players will return to their club teams in the UAAP, NCAA, PBA, and Japan B.
Cone bared plans to assemble the team 10 days before the Latvia game, considering a training camp or friendlies with European national teams, including invitations from No. 10 Lithuania, No. 11 Slovenia, and No. 19 Czech Republic.
