MANILA, Philippines – In just two games, the massive hype surrounding the Gilas Pilipinas Youth team has all but died down in the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup.
That’s largely due to the fact that 6-foot-10 Fil-Nigerian star AJ Edu has suffered an ACL tear in his right knee just two minutes into their eventual loss against host Greece.
However, there’s a glimmer of hope heading into their last group phase match against Russia on Tuesday, July 2 (Wednesday, July 3 at 1:30 am, Philippine time) at Heraklion, Greece.
Without Edu, Gilas Youth nearly stunned Argentina, 72-77. That right there is the world’s No. 9 U19 team almost losing to the 30th-ranked squad missing one of their key cogs.
Outgoing star Dave Ildefonso has made the most of his final age group stint, as he led Gilas Youth with 22 points and 10 rebounds against Argentina. Edu’s partner-in-crime Kai Sotto has shown the fruits of his US training, chipping in 17 markers, 8 boards, 6 blocks and 2 assists.
If Gilas Youth wants to make it past the Round of 16 knockout phase, head coach Sandy Arespacochaga would have to squeeze more out of his other young guns.
Carl Tamayo, Terrence Fortea, Dalph Panopio and Gerry Abadiano, among others, still have chances to shine in the big stage, but they have to start now.
The window to winning it all just got a lot smaller, but it’s not closed yet. Leave it to the Gilas Pilipinas program to make something seemingly out of nothing.
Follow live updates of the game below:
Philippines vs Russia – Curated tweets by RapplerSports
– Rappler.com
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.