After a drubbing from the world’s 13th-ranked Italy, Gilas Pilipinas faces an even more formidable task when it takes on the world’s fourth-ranked Serbia at 7:30 p.m. today, Monday, at the Foshan International Sports and Cultural Arena in Foshan, China.
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Gilas must win its next game in Group D of the FIBA World Cup 2019 if it hopes to advance to the next stage. A victory will help them bounce back from their 62-108 setback to Italy on Saturday.
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“We have a day to find some adjustments, make some improvements. We’ll see on Monday,” Coach Yeng Guiao said.
The Serbians are not only capable of advancing past Group D, but they are also one of the favorites to advance to the finals and to win the crown.
Serbia swamped Angola, 105-59, behind Bogdan Bogdanovic. Bogdanovic, a guard playing for the Sacramento Kings in the NBA, finished with a game-high 24 points.
Denver Nuggets starting center and NBA All-Star Nikola Jokic added 14 points, six assists and five rebounds off the bench. Nikola Milutinov came up with 14 points and Boban Marjanovic contributed a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Serbia was able to out-rebound Angola, 41-19, with the 7’3” Marjanovic, the tallest player on floor, sizzling with 10 boards.
“Teamwork is our trademark all these years. We like to share the ball,” said Sasha Djordjevic, the head coach of Serbia.
“We like to pass. We have guys who are not selfish and this is great for a coach. I’m proud when I see them display that trademark of Serbian basketball.”
It was Gilas’ three-point shooting that suffered the most against Italy. But Gilas will try to address this in their next practice before the game against Serbia.
“I guess we just have to gather ourselves again, recover physically and be able to find additional motivation to play Serbia,” Guiao said.
