Montenegro tuneup gives Gilas feel of World Cup, says Chot

As the 2023 FIBA World Cup draws near, Gilas Pilipinas is slowly getting accustomed to the system and the ins and outs of what it's like to play in a highly competitive global tournament such as that.

National team head coach Chot Reyes stressed that their recent loss to world no. 18 Montenegro in a tuneup affair definitely gave them a good sense of the World Cup, which will be hosted by the Philippines for the first time since 1978.

"Like we talked about the game, this game really made us feel that we're in the World Cup," Reyes said on the heels of their 102-87 defeat at the hands of the Montenegrins on Sunday night at the Philsports Arena.

"The kind of team we're playing—they've been with a team for a long time, with great talent and everything else: Smooth system offensively and defensively."

Despite the loss, which saw Gilas suffer a third quarter collapse, Reyes said he was impressed by how the team fought against Montenegro that is led by NBA star Nikola Vucevic of the Chicago Bulls.

Reyes added that they will use that loss to iron out the kinks with four days left before they open their campaign on Friday against world no. 23 Dominican Republic tipped to be backstopped by Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"I like how we competed with them the entire first half. We just had a letdown defensively in that third quarter and those are the things... that's why we play those games—for us to learn what else we can improve on," the longtime tactician added.

Gilas kept within striking distance at the first half, trailing Montenegro by just two points, 42-44. But it was in the penultimate frame that the visitors pulled away for good, limiting the Philippines to 22 points against their 32-point production.

Montenegro even led by as much as 20 points, 90-70, halfway through the fourth period following a triple from team captain Bojan Dubljevic. Gilas was unable to recover to fall to a 1-1 slate in a three-game friendly series ahead of the World Cup.

"When we started the third quarter with three straight turnovers and they scored two straight three-pointers and a two-point shot right away—an 8-0 run—basically that turned the tide," Reyes said.

"When we give good, quality teams like Montenegro a momentum, a lead like that, it's very, very hard to recover. That's a good example in this ball game, just a brief letdown and you see what happens."

They previously defeated Ivory Coast behind Jordan Clarkson, AJ Edu, and June Mar Fajardo.

—Bea Micaller/JKC, GMA Integrated News