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MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines climbed 3 notches to improve from 34th place to 31st in the world in the latest FIBA Rankings. While it is a welcome change, Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes admitted he is ‘disappointed’ and ‘not happy’ with it, saying the country deserves to rank higher.
“I’m disappointed with that 3-place increase to be very honest with you,” Reyes said during Gilas’ thanksgiving and send-off party on Wednesday, September 17 at Max’s Restaurant, Araneta Center in Cubao.
“We’re happy that we climbed our ranking but to be very honest I don’t know why Korea has a bigger climb than us. I’m not happy at all with that 3-rank improvement.”
Reyes explained he felt the Philippines should have overtaken longtime basketball rival South Korea after Gilas finished better in the recent FIBA tournaments.
South Korea rose 4 places higher to 27 in the FIBA Rankings.
During the 2013 FIBA Asia Championships where the Philippines qualified for the World Cup, Gilas placed second while South Korea landed in third place.
At the FIBA Asia Cup this past July, the Philippines nabbed its highest finish in the tourney at third place as South Korea failed to qualify.
And at the recently concluded FIBA World Cup in Spain, the Philippines surpassed expectations and won a game to finish 21st out of the 24 countries, while South Korea was unable to eke out a victory and settled for 23rd place.
“I feel we deserve to be higher ranked than 31,” Reyes remarked. “That’s just my personal feeling. I might be wrong. I’m sure FIBA has its reasons for that ranking but I really couldn’t understand bakit mas mataas ang inakyat ng Korea kaysa sa atin (why Korea climbed higher than us).”
Gilas Pilipinas will next play in the 2014 Asian Games hosted by none other than Korea in Incheon, which begins this September 19.
Despite being disappointed over the rankings, Gilas will not use it as motivation nor will it lurk in the back of their minds during the Asiad.
“We never play for the rankings,” Reyes declared, “We play for pride, we play for our country, we play for our families. The rankings, that’s just secondary to us.” – Rappler.com
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