No celebration yet for Gilas Pilipinas despite upset win vs. Iran 

CHANGSHA, China – Gilas Pilipinas is not in a celebratory mood even after beating Iran in the second round of the FIBA Asia Championship here on Monday.

 

The Philippines just pulled off an upset against the defending champion, but the national team is aware that it is too early to rejoice after a victory in the preliminary round.

 

"I was impressed in the locker room after the game, there was a lot of humility there. The players, they recognize that there's still a lot of tournament left in front of us," head coach Tab Baldwin said after the match.

IN PHOTOS: GILAS PILIPINAS VS. IRAN

 

With the win, Gilas Pilipinas has a chance to claim the top spot in Group E which would help the squad avoid an early run-in with host country China and archrival Korea in the knock out quarterfinal round.

 

The team has to beat India first on Tuesday, though, and the players know they cannot afford any more slip-ups after dropping their opening game against Palestine.

 

"Wala pa kaming napapatunayan," said Gilas forward Marc Pingris. "Sabi nga ni coach, stay humble pa rin, may game pa tayo tomorrow so kailangan mag-focus pa rin. Ayaw na namin mangyari 'yung first game natin."

 

Baldwin, for his part, said that they still have a long road ahead of them in order to accomplish their goal of bagging the gold medal and booking the country a ticket to the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil next year.

 

"We're happy, but a lot of work to do. That golden egg is still in front of us that we came here for. It's not in our hands yet, it's far from it," he said. — RSJ/JST, GMA News