JAY R. GOTERA
MANILA — Gilas Pilipinas absorbed another crushing defeat in their European training tour, getting mangled by Italy, 106-70, early Sunday, in the Imperial Basketball City pocket tournament at the Land Rover Arena in Bologna, Italy.
It was the Filipinos’ second straight lopsided loss in their tune-up games against the world’s leading basketball powers ahead of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament beginning July 5 in Manila. They earlier bowed to Turkey, 103-68, last Tuesday.
Naturalized player Andray Blatche led Gilas with 21 points, the bulk of them scored in the second half when the Filipinos made a valiant effort to climb out of a deep hole.
Terrence Romeo and Troy Rosario each scored 10 points, while Jayson Castro finished with nine.
The Italians—led by NBA players Danilo Gallinari, Marco Belinelli, Andrea Bargnani and Luigi Datome—simply had too much firepower for the badly outgunned Filipinos. Gallinari, who plays for the Denver Nuggets, led Italy with 20 points on a nearly flawless 5 of 6 shooting from three-point range.
Italy stamped its class right at the get-go, jumping to a 22-0 lead. Coming off the bench, June Mar Fajardo finally broke the ice for the Filipinos with a basket off Bargnani at the 5:22 mark of the first quarter. He never scored again, however.
Italy ended the first quarter with a humongous 33-point lead, 40-7. The Italians kept pouring on the points, taking a 46-point lead, 64-18, their biggest, in the second quarter.
Still, the Filipinos gamely fought on but were unable to shave the lead by less than 30.
Italy shot a scorching 63 percent (26/41) from the field, compared to Gilas Pilipinas’ 48 (19/39). The Italians hit 10 of 16 shots from beyond the arc compared to the Filipinos seven of 20.
Gilas Pilipinas next face China Monday morning in a rematch of the FIBA Asia Championship finals last year. China earlier lost to Canada, which plays Italy in a battle between unbeaten teams.
Before the Gilas game against China, Gilas head coach Tab Baldwin will reveal his final 12-man lineup for the Olympic qualifier.
All four teams in the tourney are preparing for the three simultaneous Olympic Qualifying Tournaments to be held from July 5-10 in Manila, Italy, and Serbia.
