By Peter Atencio
The Philippines kissed its Olympic dreams goodbye following a 71-60 loss to the world’s no. 12 Brazil in the semifinals on Saturday of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia.
A win would have set up the Filipinos against the winner of the other semis pairing between Latvia and Cameroon in the championship game, where the victor clinches a berth in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
But a horrendous third quarter where Gilas Pilipinas scored only 6 points, including a six-minute dry spell after the half at 33-27 signalled the start of the end for the Filipinos as the Brazilians scooted to a 51-39 lead entering the final period.
They were not seriously threatened from there by the world no. 37 ranked Filipinos, who created quite a ripple in the Riga qualifiers following a stunning 89-80 win over host and no. 6 Latvia. They lost by only two points to no. 23 Georgia, 94-96.
“It’s funny. We did not expect to be here. And when we got here, we were expected to win. It’s very painful that we could not. And after we came up with a halftime lead, they (Brazil)went on a 14-0 run. The third quarter was painful to watch. There’s a reason why Brazil is one of the top teams in the world. They showed that tonight,” said Gilas coach Tim Cone.
The last time the Philippines competed in Olympic basketball was at the 1972 Summer games in Munich, with a team backstopped by eventual PBA superstars William “Bogs” Adornado, Danny Florencio, Manny Paner and Rosalio “Yoyong” Martirez, who died on June 18, 2024.
Bruno Caboclo shot 15 points for the slow-starting Brazilians, helping fuel a
strong second half assault.
Justin Brownlee hit 12 of his 15 points in the first half for Gilas Pilipinas, which led, 33-27, halftime.
Brazil got five points from Yago Santos in the first half, as the Brazilians managed to stay within range off Didi Louzada’s driving shot, 27-33, in remaining 29 seconds.
Brownlee’s jumper and floater came during an 8-0 run in the first quarter, sending the nationals to a 23-12 edge at the end of the period.
Another floater and trey from Brownlee saw Gilas keeping a two-edge, 33-23, in the final 2:23 of the second quarter.
The Brazilians woke up from their slow start in the third quarter, with booming triples from Georginho de Paula and Santos finding their mark during a 17-2 run that sent them ahead, 44-35, with 2:03 left.
Big baskets came from Huertas, who had eight of his 15 points in the last period.
And Huertas’ efforts saw Brazil enjoying a 67-51 with 2:45 left.
