AJ Edu says Gilas was caught flat-footed in loss to Chinese Taipei: ‘We didn’t punch back'

Gilas Pilipinas knew Chinese Taipei would pose a serious threat even before flying to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup, especially after the latter outlasted them in their previous encounter during the qualifiers.

National team head coach Tim Cone even said that win by the world no. 73 Chinese Taipei wasn't a fluke, stressing the fact that Gilas should be well-prepared the next time they meet on the court.

Come early Wednesday, the Filipinos still couldn’t solve the Chinese Taipei puzzle, falling flat once again in a 95-87 loss that dealt a major blow to their Asia Cup campaign.

AJ Edu owned up to the loss, saying the players came up short despite the coaching staff preparing them thoroughly for the game.

"Obviously a tough loss. I think we got punched early and we didn’t punch back," the 6-foot-10 center said.

"The coaches can give us all the schemes and prepare us all they can but I think us guys on the court gotta take responsibility as well and we just had to step up."

Gilas leaned heavily on Justin Brownlee in the first half with the naturalized forward scoring 16 of the team's 34-point halftime production as Ying-Chun Chen made life difficult on the other end. 

In the second half, Dwight Ramos, Kevin Quiambao, and Scottie Thompson helped ignite the fight within Gilas.

But turnovers and fouls ultimately doomed Gilas in this one.

READ MORE | Gilas Pilipinas vs Chinese Taipei: Final Score and Stats – 2025 FIBA Asia Cup

The Philippines turned the ball over 16 times, which Chinese Taipei converted into 18 points. Gilas also gave up 26 fouls against the 18 of Chinese Taipei, which completed 27 free throws off those infractions. 

Gilas, however, got the better of Chinese Taipei in the rebound and assist departments, collecting 48 boards and 20 dimes against the 24 rebounds and 12 assists of Chinese Taipei. 

Still, those were not enough to flip the switch for Gilas as Chen torched them with 34 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the rainbow country. Chen also got a huge lift from his teammates with Brandon Gilbeck and Ting-Chien Lin chipping in 16 and 14 markers apiece. 

"It wasn’t a thing of underestimating them, we knew how good they were coming to this game. It’s just on us, players, to step up knowing how good they are," Edu added.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News