But they were stunned in the second period when the Filipinos found their stroke from the outside and outscored them, 27-9, to enter the halftime with a 47-29 lead that Qatar would not be able to overcome.
“The first quarter, I think we finished 20-20, it was equal,” said Qatar’s Yasseen Musa after the game. “But the second quarter, we couldn’t get back on defense. The defense and the offense were so terrible.”
Gilas Pilipinas would go on to hand Qatar their first loss of the competition, 80-70, and coach Thomas Wisman was visibly disappointed with his squad's performance after the game.
“Congratulations to the Philippine team,” Wisman said. “They deserved to win tonight, and they gave us a lesson in 40-minute intensity.”
“It only takes one quarter of great intensity that they had in the second quarter that we didn’t match to make a difference in the game,” he added. “It’s a lesson that we have to take.”
Wisman said they tried to slow the pace to counter Gilas’ advantage in speed, but it didn’t work out in their favor, especially in the second period.
“Our second quarter was unacceptable at this level. It was a 27-9 quarter, and you’re not gonna win ball games when you let that happen,” he said.
Musa rued the breakdown of their offense in the second period, noting that they “didn’t share the ball.”
“The ball was not moving side to side and (we made) a lot of one-on-one decisions. The point guards made the difference for the Philippine national team. They hit four three-point shots, a couple of lay-ups, and that made the difference,” he said.
Wisman took heart in his team’s late fightback, as they cut the lead to seven points in the final quarter before the Filipinos put the game away through the free throw line.
“I was happy with how we fought back. We stayed at the task, came after them and showed some character, but we gotta take a lesson about intensity with this game,” he said.
Musa, meanwhile, said the loss was a “wake-up call” for the erstwhile unbeaten Qatar team.
“I think we need this loss, this is a wake-up call for us. It’s good to lose in the game in the first round or second round, and not to lose in the knockout games,” he said.
“We still have a chance to finish first in our group. If we beat Taiwan by 10 points or 11 points, we still have a chance,” he added.
“We have 14 hours to come back and play the next game, and we have to bring our A-game tomorrow.”
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
