By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Gilas Pilipinas Under-17 national basketball team had a campaign to forget after finishing the FIBA U17 World Cup dead last.
After two weeks of grueling basketball games in Istanbul, Turkey, the young Gilas squad failed to bag a single win in the tournament and finished the World Cup with a disappointing 0-7 win-loss record.
Gilas’ 16th-place finish marked their worst outing in the FIBA U-17 World Cup and were far from their 13th finish during the 2018 edition.
The Filipinos quickly received a rude wake-up call after Lithuania dropped the hammer on them in their first game of the tournament, 107-47.
With a lopsided beating from the Lithuanians, the Filipinos didn’t recover fast and were dealt with another crushing defeat in their next game against Spain, 96-34.
Gilas’ disappointing campaign continued in their third game, a match that they must win versus Puerto Rico.
However, just like their performances against Lithuania and Spain, Gilas had trouble finding the basket and received their third consecutive blowout, 98-53, against Puerto Rico.
Their worst nightmare then became a reality after they were matched against the talented USA national team. From the get-go, the Americans just stomped them over and dealt them their worst loss of the 2024 World Cup, 141-45.
Gilas also dropped their last three games against Argentina, China, and Australia. It was only against the Chinese hoopers that they were not blown out by 20 points or more, 85-66.
The national team was handled by Chot Reyes’ son, Josh, who also helped the team qualify for the World Cup.
