Big man Baltazar credits Gilas teammates for breakout game vs Indonesia

After a low-scoring output in Gilas Pilipinas' 81-78 win over South Korea last Wednesday, big man Justine Baltazar knew he had to bounce back in the coming games.

The 6-foot-10 slotman said he wasn't satisfied from his previous performance with only six points which pushed him to have a turnaround against Indonesia tonight.

In the Filipinos' statement 76-51 victory over the Indonesians on Friday, Baltazar notched 11 points, including two three-pointers, to go along with nine rebounds and a block.

His offensive output was highlighted by the timely triples he made when the Philippines was mounting a rally early in the third quarter.

"In my last game against Korea, I was not able to shoot my attempts from the three-point line so my coaches told me to just bounce back come our next game," Balatzar said in Filipino in the post-game presser.

"I also have to thank my teammates because if they did not pass the ball to me like they did, I would not have been able to shoot those threes."

Baltazar stressed he needed to make those shots especially as Gilas struggled offensively in the first half, where they scored only 30 points as a team.

"At first, we were having problems because we could not execute our plays and during halftime, we regrouped and did what the coaches told us to do," the La Salle big man said.

"And thankfully, the outcome was good as we were able to bounce back and win."

The Philippines, which had already qualified for the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup prior to the game, will still take on South Korea on Sunday, June 20, to close what has been an impressive run by the Filipinos, especially with a young lineup in this third window of the qualifiers.

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA News