2023 FIBA WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

Vucinic admits Gilas Pilipinas had tough time vs New Zealand, to bring lessons for India game

Nenad Vucinic, the Gilas Pilipinas head coach for the third window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, admitted that the national team had a hard time in facing New Zealand on Thursday.

The Philippines suffered a 46-point blowout against the Tall Blacks, 106-60, to open the third window of the qualifiers.

"[It's a] very tough night for this young team," Vucinic said in a post-game conference.

"We have come across a Tall Blacks team with a high intensity and very good execution. We struggled to contain them in that part of the game, in the physicality, intensity, speed, and we struggled really offensively to get things going," he added.

Gilas was limited to 33.9% in field goals while the Tall Blacks shot 50% from the field.

Vucinic said that it is "very hard to find positives with such a heavy loss," but vowed that they will eliminate the negatives and will treat this game as a lesson for the young Gilas squad as they head into their next game against India.

"It is a good thing for the young players to understand what level we need to be to play high level international basketball," he said.

SJ Belangel echoed Vucinic's sentiments.

"[It's a] great opportunity for us and really many things to learn in this game. We're gonna bring this game to our future games and future practices."

The national team fielded only 11 players, and might be one more man down in their next game as Carl Tamayo suffered a sprained ankle.

The Philippines will play India on Sunday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.

—MGP, GMA News