Dwight Ramos and the rest of Gilas Pilipinas will try to recover their winning ways against fellow FIBA Asia Cup-bound New Zealand on Sunday, Feb. 23.
Gilas Pilipinas guard Dwight Ramos believes that the team's setback against Chinese Taipei in the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers is a humbling experience that would only make them better.
Ramos churned out 15 points, 10 of which he poured in the second period that shoved the Nationals closer, 45-47, at halftime after being down by as many as 13 points in the frame.
But the Taiwanese were able to hold off Ramos and the rest of the Pinoy dribblers to pull off the reversal, 91-84, as they enjoyed the support of their home crowd at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium Thursday, Feb. 20.
"It's a tough trip, but it is what makes us better," said Ramos.
"We were winning a lot of games before and now, we're starting to lose. So it's humbling for us," he added.
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Before its rematch with Chinese Taipei, Gilas was coming off a two-game losing streak in the Doha International Cup. The Nationals lost to Lebanon and Egypt by an average margin of 26 points.
Ramos could only see the situation as beneficial: losing to Lebanon and Egypt, as well as Chinese Taipei to kick off Window 3 of the qualifiers, would only help Gilas amp up their preparations for the Asia Cup in Saudi Arabia in August.
"It's not too good when you win too much: you get complacent. It's good that we got humbled before the Asia Cup. We'll know we got to prepare harder than this," said Ramos.
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Gilas Pilipinas will look to overcome New Zealand anew on Sunday, Feb. 23.
(With reports from Nic Earnshaw, Cignal TV)