Pinoy basketball fans took to social media to vent their frustration following the Gilas Pilipinas Youth’s lopsided 106-82 loss to Chinese Taipei on opening day of the FIBA U16 Asia Cup 2025 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Sunday night.
The comments poured into the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) Facebook page, where photos of the national team warming up before the game were posted.
One fan, Decemar Leray, criticized the team’s small lineup and questioned the decision to appoint newly installed head coach Lewis Alfred “LA” Tenorio, suggesting instead that SBP should consider a European tactician.
“Ano pa ba aasahan nyo sa coach pa lang sablay na. Dinagdagan pa sa line-up na pang small ball. Kung gusto ng SBP na umunlad ang laruan ng national team natin, dapat kumuha na sila ng foreign coach. European para makasabay sa international playing style, hindi ‘yong Pinoy na nga baguhan pa. Ano naman ang aasahan mo kay Tenorio? Sa coaching style pa lang alam mo na pang PBA pa rin.”
Another fan, Al-Gamar Tugung, mocked the disparity in pace and skill between the two teams.
“’Yung Chinese Taipei parang bagong gising lang, pero grabe ang gagaling nila. Samantala, ang Philippines team parang laro ng elementarya.”
Meanwhile, Ralph So questioned the point of conducting a tryout in Las Vegas when the team still ended up with mostly local players.
“Pa-Las Vegas Las Vegas tryout pa kayo, puro local rin naman pala kukunin nyo. Ayan tambakol tuloy kayo sa Chinese Taipei HAHAAHAH.”
The heavy defeat was a rough start for Gilas Youth under Tenorio, who will have to quickly regroup as the tournament progresses.
The Nationals shot a respectable 50% from the field (27-of-54), nearly matching Taipei’s 48% (36-of-75). However, the telling difference came from the three-point line, where Taipei torched the nets with an incredible 12-of-17 (70%), while Gilas managed only 3-of-13 (23%).
Free throws also proved costly for the Filipinos, who went just 19-of-31 (61%), compared to Taipei’s 14-of-37 (37%).
Despite the lopsided score, Gilas managed to win the hustle categories, collecting 55 rebounds and 24 assists against Taipei’s 37 boards and 22 dimes.
Wang I-Le starred with 24 points, 5 rebounds, an assist, and 3 steals to post a game-high efficiency of 30, doing it all in just 20 minutes of action — and without a single turnover.
Hsiao Cheng-Che chipped in 13 points while Lu Shu-Wei added 10, as all but one player contributed offensively. Pan Chen-Wu, Chen Hung-Yu, Wang Jia-Cheng, and Chen Guan-Jie also made their presence felt with at least 8 points each.
The East Asian squad seized control early with a 20-10 start, then blew the game wide open in the middle quarters, pouring in 59 points to carry an 87-62 cushion entering the final frame.
Gilas Youth, meanwhile, struggled to keep pace, with offense coming mostly from Prince Cariño and Jeremiah Antolin, who finished with 23 and 11 points, respectively.
The Nationals will try to bounce back when they face Indonesia tonight at 7 p.m. (Philippine time), before wrapping up the group stage against New Zealand on Tuesday.
The tournament runs from August 31 to September 7.
The SBP earlier unveiled the Gilas Youth “Final 12” under Tenorio:
Jhustin Hallare
Jojo Pascual
Gab Delos Reyes
Everaigne Cruz
Travis Pascual
Ethan Tan-Chi
John Restificar
Brian Orca
Jhello Lumague
Prince Cariño
Andwele Cabañero
Jeremiah Antolin
Watch the game here: Facebook Live
The post Fans blast Gilas Youth after 106-82 loss to Chinese Taipei in FIBA U16 Asia Cup first appeared on Fastbreak.
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