Size, speed of Italians' just too much for the Gilas - Guiao

Gilas Pilipinas head coach Yeng Guiao believes the combination of bad turnovers and paltry three-pointers is the cause of their bitter disappointment in Italy as they headline their opening campaign at the 2019 FIBA ​​World Cup.

Earlier, Italy beat the Philippines, 108-62, with their combined good execution and three-point shooting.

"They have the size with their guards that we didn't have and they have the quickness with their bigs that we didn't have," Guiao said.

Although frustrated in their last six games of participating in the tune-up games before the tournament, Italy were on fire with a 28-4 lead in the first quarter.

While the Filipinos have already made eight turnovers in that period, with only four entering 13 innings.

In addition, Gilas's first 17 attempts from the arc also kicked off before entering the first three in the final canto.

“I'm sure they did their homework but we also got into early trouble with our turnovers and we didn't hit our three-points. So it's a combination of all these things, ”Guiao said.

Gilas also said it was difficult to keep up with the Italians, who showed good ball movement.

“They moved the ball really well. Anywhere the ball landed was a threat. So we just had to keep recovering so whoever was gonna catch that ball, ”said the coach.

“The problem there was that we didn't have that kind of speed. So the problem is when you rotate and your bigs can’t cover that quickly. Somebody’s always gonna be open on the third, fourth or maybe fifth pass.

“On the other hand, they just kept switching us. Their guards could guard our bigs and our bigs can guard our guards. So it's really a dead end for us especially if you're not making your three-point shots. ”