Batang Gilas bows in Croatia

Batang Gilas bows in Croatia

MANILA, Philippines – Kai Sotto has proven himself on the world stage by delivering 23 points and 12 rebounds but Batang Gilas could not retain Croatia despite center heroism 7-1 and lost, 97-75, to start his campaign on a fragile note at the fifth U17 FIBA ​​World Cup in Rosario, Argentina, last Saturday night (yesterday 4:30 pm) from Manila).

Aside from Sotto's performance, there were other positive takeaways in the early days of Batang Gilas. The Philippines caught more rebounds, 46-36, took more free throw attempts, 32-14, had more second chance points, 14-7, scored more fouls, 21-9 and was are beaten until the end. -all, in the fourth period. The negatives, however, were killers.

Croatia took advantage of the 28 turnarounds of Batang Gilas to score 30 points. Croatia had only 16 errors, of which the Philippines scored 11 points. Croatia also had more fastbreak points, 26-13, points in the paint, 44-30, bench points, 36-33, three-point conversions, 10-of-24 to 6-on-16 and interceptions , 19-7. Forthsky Padrigao, the main leader of Batang Gilas, had six turnovers in 12:19 minutes.

"We played badly in defense," said Mike Oliver, coach of Batang Gilas. "We made 28 turnovers and lacked aggression, we had communication failures, which is why we had a lot of turnovers, if we want to play better against France we have to take care of the ball. and perform well in attack.We can not afford a lack of communication. "

The Philippines play France next with the match scheduled at 5:15 am today, Manila time. Batang Gilas finishes his Group D missions against Argentina host Wednesday, 7:30 am, Manila time then battles in the round of 16.

Rounds of 16 pairs will be determined by the order of arrival in the group phase. If the Philippines finish fourth in Group D, they will play No. 1 in Group C, probably the world No. 2, in the round of 16. Argentina is 11 hours behind Manila.

Sotto, 16, was FIBA ​​Asia Pacific's U16 playoff MVP in Foshan, China last April and did not disappoint his first U17 World Cup appearance . He shot 9-on-14 off the floor and 5-on-8 free throws in 31:03 minutes. Three teammates also finished at two points with Terrence Fortea shooting 14, Raven Cortez 13 and Carl Tamayo 12. Starters Padrigao, RC Calimag and Yukien Andrada shot a combined total of 7 points on 3 of 14 of the field.

6-9 Matej Rudan showed the way with 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and 4-on-6 triples. The other two-digit markers were 6-8 Matej Bosnjak with 14, 6-5 Ivan Gulin with 13 and 6-7 Roko Prkacin with 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists. No player of the Croatian team has less than 6-1 while Batang Gilas has three players who have a score of 5-11.

In other matches, the United States invaded China, 115-37, Egypt beat New Zealand, 64-50 and Australia. choked the Dominican Republic, 73-71.