Gilas Pilipinas guard Chris Newsam during Auckland’s FIBA Asian Cup Qualifiers
MANILA, Philippines — Even if Gilas Pilipinas loses his final match in the 2025 FIBA Asian Cup qualifiers, the Philippine team feels they have won with the amount of support they received.
On Sunday, Gilas was defeated 87-70 by New Zealand, losing to land in Kiwis’s home before the split crowd.
After this ad, the article continues
Chris Newsom was not at all surprised by the amount of Filipinos who appeared to see Gilas despite the match being blown away.
Read: Gilas’s Tim Korn, Kiwi coach, overwhelmed by “surprising” crowd
“My coach of Nenad (Voushnik) club team, has spoken a lot about New Zealand and the people here.
“What I saw in the crowd tonight was a staple of the Filipinos.”
After this ad, the article continues
Motivated by the many OFWs in attendance, Newsom led the Philippines and scored a team-high 13 points with an efficient 50% shooting clip.
But the tall blacks had far more firepower led by Tohi Smith Milner, so that wasn’t enough.
Read: Gilas must be better in defense from Go-Go, says Newsom
Still, even if Smith Milner shot the lights and sank the shot that silenced the capacity crowd. However, he is not a Filipino inside the Spark Arena.
“Where you go in the world, you’ll see Filipinos appearing on the basketball team. I think we saw that tonight.”
“We can see that despite not winning, they were able to bring joy to the Filipino people, whether they’re here or back home. That’s how much the Philippines is about basketball. I think they’re talking about whether they have passion.”
If Newsom’s sentiment is still true in a few months, Gilas Pilipinas will be supported by the huge support of the Philippines in August, when he will be in Saudi Arabia’s 2025 Asian Cup campaign.
The subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription was successful.
