Gilas Pilipinas felt disrespected by Lebanon coach's 'easy' comments, says Baldwin

CHANGSHA, China - Even before Gilas Pilipinas and Lebanon met each other on the court, tension between the two teams already rose after Lebanese coach Veselin Matic reportedly said that the Philippines was an easy match-up for his squad.

The national team made sure to correct his perception with an 82-70 victory in the quarterfinals of the FIBA Asia Championship on Thursday night, but not before struggling a bit during the game with their wounded pride.

"Irrespective of why those comments were made and I'm sure they weren't believed by the person who made them, it was still, when fans read that, it's a disrespectful comment," said coach Tab Baldwin.

"That's the way we chose to take it. We felt like we would earn our respect on the floor," he added.

IN PHOTOS: GILAS PILIPINAS VS. LEBANON

Andray Blatche and Calvin Abueva were the most expressive of their emotions during the game, taunting the Lebanese bench with shouts of "It's easy!" after the buzzer.

Gilas Pilipinas players usually do not read material circulating on social media during tournaments, but Baldwin decided to tell his wards about Matic's comment before their match.

"This is a team that was cobbled together under really tough circumstances and everybody knows all those stories. This has been a team that has been unfairly criticized before they ever played a game," the American-Kiwi coach said.

"They wanna be respected for the team we've built and I think they deserved that. That's why I chose to highlight that and that's why they took it a bit personal." --JST, GMA News