‘NAKAKAHIYA!’: Ex-PSC chief hits Gilas after early exit in Asiad

Sports

NOLI Eala, the former commissioner of the Philippine Sports Commission, didn’t mince words when he criticized Gilas Pilipinas’ early exit from the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.

Eala, also the former commissioner of the Philippine Basketball Association, took to social media to express frustration over Gilas’ 61-105 loss to China on Monday, Sept. 14.

“NAKAKAHIYA!” Eala wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

The 44-point beatdown eliminated Gilas, failing to defend its crown after winning just once in the three-game elimination round.

Gilas came into the match with two ways of making it to the quarterfinal round. One was to beat China and the other was not to lose by more than 37 points.

By halftime, it already appeared Gilas was headed for disaster when China built a 66-30 lead. The Chinese team went on to dump Gilas by 44 points.

Eala described Gilas’ performance as “national disappointment.”

“Gilas came into this game with a mindset that they could just LOSE, (mind you) NOT win, LOSE by 37. Where is the national pride? They lost 105-61. 44 points. Unacceptable,” added Eala, the uncle of tennis star Alex Eala.

Assistant coach Richard del Rosario rebuked Eala in the same post.

“I respect you. However, before you make wild accusations and presumptions about our mindset, make sure that you know what was said inside the dugout,” said Del Rosario.

“We are embarrassed by the loss, same as everyone else, but we NEVER entertained the idea to just play not to lose. We play to win!,” Del Rosario added.

In failing to defend its crown, Gilas ended the tournament at ninth place–the country’s worst finish in the quadrennial meet.(CCM)