Gilas Pilipinas suffered a stunning 95-87 defeat at the hands of Chinese Taipei in the opening game of Group D at the FIBA Asia Cup, early Wednesday morning (2 a.m., Manila time) at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah.
It was a loss that triggered an outpouring of frustration and criticism from Filipino fans online, many of whom took to the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Facebook page, which posted the final result of the match:
Final
One netizen compared the loss to another painful memory in Philippine basketball:
“Noon: Korea
Ngayon: Chinese Taipei,” wrote Albert Basilides.
Others were more direct in criticizing individual players and head coach Tim Cone’s system:
“Oftana baldog talaga sa ibang bansa. KQ na dapat ang ibabad next game. Tapos yung damulag na bondying na GOAT daw ng PBA. Wag na sana gamitin yan. Patawa lang ang ginawa 
,” wrote Carlos Jimenez.
“Ganda ng triangle n’yan Cone, wala talaga,” added JM Balansag.
“Sobrang galing ng pinakita ni 8x PBA MVP Junemar Fajardo,” said Marvin Panganiban Munoz, sarcastically.
“RAMOS at KQ na nga lang shooter, hindi pa pinagsabay agad. Dapat RAMOS, JB, KQ, TAMAYO, EDU agad first five kasi mga bata pa. Tapos paisa-isa lang yung palit o kaya dalawa,” shared Dhell Zonio.
One of the most impassioned reactions came from Ken Ken, who expressed disappointment with Gilas’ effort and lineup choices:
“Magalit man kayo sa’kin pero nakakahiya sila. Pinatunayan nilang pang-PBA lang sistema nila. Sayang ang suporta ng mga OFW kung ganyan lang pinakita niyo! Lesson learned kay Tim Cone—umasa ka sa mga bata at ‘wag maging mapride. Abando over Malonzo? Wow, ha. Heading over, Perez? Wag puro pride, daming butas sa line-up mo. Pasalamat kayo isang panalo lang para umusad sa next round. Pero baka masilat pa kayo ng Iraq. Wag kayo kampante.”
Still, some netizens came to the team’s defense, blaming the referees for questionable calls:
“’Yung tawagan ng referees ang nipis, puro foul, puro free throw. Pag sa Gilas may foul, ayaw tawagan. Kita naman—hayop na ref, nakakasira ng laro,” said Queenheart Tums Dapz.
“Grabe, sayang ang momentum. Every time we gain momentum, referees call a foul,” another commenter posted.
“Grabe call ng ref 
,” wrote Ge Rald.
Gilas was hoping to avenge its 91-84 loss to Chinese Taipei in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers back in February—their first loss to the Taiwanese since 2013. That game ended the Philippines’ perfect 4-0 start and served as a wake-up call.
Unfortunately, history repeated itself as Chinese Taipei led wire-to-wire in this latest encounter:
1st Quarter: 27-16
2nd Quarter: 43-34
3rd Quarter: 72-62
Following the loss, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) released a statement on its official Facebook page:
“Not the result we wanted, but we have two more games to play in Group D. Time to buckle down and prepare for the next game vs. New Zealand.”
The post Gilas fans vent frustrations online after shocking loss to Chinese Taipei first appeared on Fastbreak.
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