by Sarah Villano and Rozelle Javier
Gilas Pilipinas lost yesterday's Group B play against Croatia but also gained fans at this year's FIBA (International Basketball Federation) World Cup at Seville, Spain.
The Philippine national team has definitely shocked the whole world as they gave Croatia a close fight despite being considered the underdogs.
Gilas barely lost to Croatia during the five-minute overtime with 81-78 points. However, many basketball fans were clamoring for the referees to call a 3-sec violation on Croatia on the earlier parts of the game. Some technical fouls weren’t called out as well.
Fans, not only those who watched live, but also those who were watching the game around the world shouted out their support and joy for Gilas. A lot of them also took it to social networking sites to express their support and pride for the national team.
Filipino and non-Filipino fans received an intense match from Gilas. They will surely root more in the next game, now against Greece to be held again at Seville this Monday at 2 am.
Croatia ranked 4th in the Eurobasket 2013 and was, according to the FIBA Group B Preview, “the team expected to top Group B when it's all said and done.”
In the philstar interview with Coach Chot Reyes, he said that the technical foul the referees called out to Castro in the last seconds of the third quarter was the biggest factor of their loss. “If not for that technical foul, we could have won the game. The game wouldn’t have gone into overtime,” Reyes pointed out.
The Philippine national team has definitely shocked the whole world as they gave Croatia a close fight despite being considered the underdogs.
Gilas barely lost to Croatia during the five-minute overtime with 81-78 points. However, many basketball fans were clamoring for the referees to call a 3-sec violation on Croatia on the earlier parts of the game. Some technical fouls weren’t called out as well.
Fans, not only those who watched live, but also those who were watching the game around the world shouted out their support and joy for Gilas. A lot of them also took it to social networking sites to express their support and pride for the national team.
Filipino and non-Filipino fans received an intense match from Gilas. They will surely root more in the next game, now against Greece to be held again at Seville this Monday at 2 am.
Croatia ranked 4th in the Eurobasket 2013 and was, according to the FIBA Group B Preview, “the team expected to top Group B when it's all said and done.”
In the philstar interview with Coach Chot Reyes, he said that the technical foul the referees called out to Castro in the last seconds of the third quarter was the biggest factor of their loss. “If not for that technical foul, we could have won the game. The game wouldn’t have gone into overtime,” Reyes pointed out.