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FIBA: Gilas not settling for 'moral victories'

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Levi Joshua Verora Jr.

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="ABS-CBN News/file" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/sports/08/26/20230825-fiba-gilas-dominican-republic-jc-11.jpg"/><figcaption>Gilas Filipinas during their game against the Dominican Republic in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. <em>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/file</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA -- Not wanting to settle for another &quot;moral victory,&quot; Gilas Pilipinas captain Japeth Aguilar believes the nationals will get better after their 87-81 defeat to the Dominican Republic in their FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 debut last Friday.</p><p>&quot;Breaks of the game. We [don&#x27;t] want to say another moral victory, because we already have a lot of those,&quot; Aguilar said.</p><p>Gilas hung tough against the 23rd ranked country in the world, even leading by as much as four, 59-55 late in the third quarter.</p><p>However, the Philippines committed 19 turnovers and allowed 17 offensive rebounds and 15 second-chance points, failing to close the game strong.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/26/23/chot-explains-kai-sottos-benching-vs-dominican-republic">FIBA: Chot explains Kai Sotto&#x27;s benching vs. Dominican Republic</a></li></ul><p>Jordan Clarkson led head coach Chot Reyes&#x27; troops with 28 points, but only shot 9-of-24 from the floor and fouled out late in the payoff period.</p><p>&quot;We&#x27;re only going to get better from this game. I&#x27;m happy [for] my teammates. Looking forward to the next game,&quot; Aguilar added.</p><p>Aguilar&#x27;s fellow three-time World Cup veteran June Mar Fajardo added that Gilas played a fair game in general, but had a few lapses towards the end of regulation which spelled the difference in a bittersweet result in front of a record Philippine Arena crowd of 38,115.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/25/23/fiba-gilas-pilipinas-falters-vs-dominican-republic">FIBA: Gilas Pilipinas falters vs Dominican Republic</a></li></ul><p>&quot;Maganda naman ang laro ng team. May mga lapses lang talaga, so kailangan naming i-correct &#x27;yun. Bounce back tayo next game,&quot; Fajardo, who scored 16 points on a perfect 5-of-5 clip, said.</p><p>Fajardo were among the Philippines&#x27; bigs who took turns in trying to contain Dominican star Karl-Anthony Towns, who finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds.</p><p>The San Miguel big man mentioned that the squad was focused on their own game plan, and not whether it could match up well with NBA-level counterparts.</p><p>&quot;Hindi ako nakikipagsukatan kay Karl o sa ibang players. Gusto ko lang makatulong sa team. Kung ano ipapagawa ni coach sa akin, gagawin ko,&quot; the six-time PBA MVP shared.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/25/23/ph-sets-new-fiba-crowd-record-during-gilas-dominican-republic-game">PH sets new FIBA crowd record during Gilas-Dominican Republic game</a></li></ul><p>With a quick turnaround before their face-off against Angola on Sunday, the Gilas veterans remain positive that they can get a more favorable outcome as long as they forget what happened on Friday and turn their attention to the African powerhouse team.</p><p>&quot;Kailangan naming mag-move on. Basta maglaro lang kami as a team, ilabas lang namin ang gameplan,&quot; Fajardo said.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xrlY6zdDkD8?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Japeth Aguilar believes the nationals will get better after their 87-81 defeat to the Dominican Republic,