Nationals handed 43-point mauling by Aussies in Perth

AJ Edu (No. 34) had all sorts of problems dealing with the big men of Australia. —FIBA.COM

Coach Tim Cone couldn’t sugarcoat the way Gilas Pilipinas performed—or underperformed—in a brutal defeat to Australia on Monday to close out the first round of qualification for the 2027 Fiba World Cup.

“It wasn’t a lot of fun, that’s for sure,” Cone said after GIlas took a 92-49 loss flush on the kisser in Perth to finish with a 2-4 win-loss record in Group A, as the Filipinos came into the contest at RAC Arena sans Justin Brownlee, who was scratched due to a hamstring injury.

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Still, Cone and the Filipinos were hoping to give themselves the chance to produce a massive result against the fancied Boomers.

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They didn’t even come close to doing so.

Turnover-prone

Turnovers, particularly in the first quarter, set the tone for the blowout, as Gilas wasn’t able to sustain a solid second period as Australia widened a 41-27 halftime lead to more than double by the time the final buzzer sounded.

Bryce Cotton inflicted trouble on Gilas as he poured in 21 points for the Boomers, who completed a six-game sweep of the first round.

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“We felt we could come out and compete [against Australia],” said Cone. “But we only competed in stretches, and that is not good enough.”

No Gilas player scored in double figures with Dwight Ramos producing the highest output with nine.

A “bright light,” as Cone described, was Mike Phillips, whose all-out energy translated to six points and 12 rebounds in 24 minutes.

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Still, Gilas couldn’t build on what could have been a momentum-builder from Friday’s stinging 106-102 double overtime loss to New Zealand in Auckland.

The right move

Gilas played with Brownlee that time, but the naturalized player could only muster five points in a back-and-forth battle.

Cone felt sitting out Brownlee was the right move.

“Well, it wasn’t worth 40 points,” Cone said. “He’s a guy that we could go through in tough moments.

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“But he wasn’t just ready. He wouldn’t be much of a help the way he was feeling,” he added. INQ