Coach Gianluca Tucci pays respect to Gilas, says Chinese Taipei ‘simply deserved to win’

Chinese Taipei head coach Gianluca Tucci made known his respect for Gilas Pilipinas following his team’s 95-87 victory in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup, but he felt that his squad was simply the better team that night.

"We never lost the lead of the game but it was not great. I mean, I consider the Philippines one of the most experienced teams in this competition," Tucci said early Wednesday (Manila time). 

"They know each other very well, but we’re simply better than them in executing the plays."

Chinese Taipei came out firing against the higher-ranked Philippines, hitting six triples in the first half that helped the squad build a 43-34 lead at the break. 

They kept their foot on the gas the whole way with Ying-Chun Chen, Brandon Gilbeck, Robert Hinton, and Ting-Chien Lin all providing the answer to every Gilas Pilipinas comeback attempt. 

Chen, who posted 34 points on 6-of-8 shooting from three-point territory and tallied two rebounds, two assists, and two steals, agreed with the Italian tactician, saying they recognized the weaknesses of Gilas Pilipinas and used those to their advantage. 

"I think coach and the coaching staff gave us a really good game plan and we executed good on both ends, especially on defensive end as we limited their perimeter offensive players," the 32-year-old sharpshooter said.

"We also attacked their weaknesses on offense. We fought the whole game and we rebounded very well, even though we gave up too many offensive rebounds. I wanna give a lot of credit to our coaching staff for a really good game plan."

Since Tucci's arrival in late 2024, Chinese Taipei has turned its fortunes around. 

In the first round of the Asia Cup qualifiers, Chinese Taipei absorbed a 20-point loss to New Zealand before suffering a huge 53-point blowout to Gilas Pilipinas at the PhilSports Arena to wrap up the first round.

Tucci came into the picture after that and immediately altered the course for the East Asian squad.

They started with a comfortable 85-55 rout of Hong Kong, but they failed to get their payback over New Zealand, suffering an 81-64 defeat in their next meeting.

Chinese Taipei, though, would shock the Philippines by eking out a 91-84 victory over Gilas last February, which served as their first win against the Filipinos since 2013.

They proved that that victory was a result of hard work — not luck — as they secured a second straight victory over Gilas Pilipinas on early Wednesday to go 1-0 in Asia Cup. 

"We played our game so we overcame many difficulties during the game, considering the difference in size and athleticism but we never lost the confidence," Tucci said.

"I appreciate the fact that every single player that I put on the court gave their best. We simply deserved to win this game."

—JMB, GMA Integrated News