BELGRADE (Serbia) - A close loss against pre-tournament favorites Serbia followed by a blow-out defeat to the Dominican Republic ended Philippinas team hopes to secure the Olympic appearance for the first time since the Munich Olympic Games in 1972.  Even in defeat, the main goal of "Gilas Philippines" did not change.

As a young team in a time of transition, the name of the game is to continue to grow and be the best for the next edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup when it makes its appearance in the Philippines in 2023. With "Gilas" young guns Kai Sotto and Dwight Ramos showing their skills on the world stage, the team has the look and composition of one soon to relish that upcoming challenge.

Basketball in the Philippines is the country's most popular sport - by far -  and its national team a national brand. Therefore, the team's defeats in international competition are always challenging to bear in this Asian country. That time is now, after two defeats in two matches that Gilas played at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Belgrade.

The public at home and the players in the Belgrade bubble were happy and expressed pride after the close defeat against a Serbian contingent playing on home court in the opener.

Still, more than a convincing defeat against the Dominican Republic (94-67) happened last night after a solid first half by Philippines unravelled after intermission.  The boat of the "Gilas" team sank in the second half, which was also the last twenty minutes of the tournament for them. It's in that second half why the Philippines players leave Serbia with a bitter taste in their mouths.

"In the second half, they came out very physical and came to make a statement against us. They did." Philippines head coach Thomas Anthony Baldwin said. "We didn’t execute what we can execute, what we should execute under pressure. It was very disappointing in the second half for us.

"No excuses. Not much to say about it other than we were outplayed, outcoached, and outfought."

Coach "Tab," who will continue to lead this program going forward, did not make any excuses.

However, despite all that, this young and highly combative team has a bright future. And will take Belgrade's experience as a good learning lesson.

Essential floor general Dwight Ramos, whose groin injury went from bad to worst after the team landed in the Serbian capital, missed both games. Still, he has great hopes for this group.

"We learned a lot from these two games," Ramos pointed out. "We are still very young. So, it ended up with a lot of basketball lessons on the court and off the court. But, it was an excellent learning experience."

Before entering the flight to go home, similar thoughts came from an NBA prospect and former G League player Kai Sotto.

"Now we know our weaknesses," Sotto said. " We still have time to improve. But, I believe in this team. I believe in this coaching staff. So you can expect us to be better - and we will."

Sotto had some tough matchups in Serbia, playing against some solid, skilled centers, like Serbia's Boban Marjanovic, who plays professionally in the NBA for the and Dallas Mavericks.

"I am more than grateful to play against these teams here, to play against outstanding players," Sotto said. "I learned a lot, and I can't wait for the next time to play with my team."

The intention of the Philippines National Basketball Federation and the coach is for this group of players to stay together and grow to their primary goal, the upcoming FIBA Basketball ​​World Cup competition. Players, coaches, media and fans alike point to this as an inflection point for Philippine basketball, where the Filipinos will co-host the event with Japan and Indonesia.

"The next thing for us is Asian Cup in Indonesia this August," Ramos said. "We will go there and try to continue working on our stuff, get better. But yes, that's just one checkpoint on the road to FIBA World Cup 2023.

"We'll take one step at a time, continue to grow, and be ready to put on a show at that tournament in 2023," he added. "I think we show some hint of the future, show how good we can be. Going forward, we keep getting support from our Gilas fans. By 2023, we will be ready, stadiums will be packed, and hopefully, we will play some good basketball."

"The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 is our main goal, and this team is the development team for the future," Sotto noted. "Everybody sees that we are very young, and many of these players will be on the roster for that time. Therefore, I believe everybody will keep working hard and get better until  then."

This nineteen-year-old tall guy said that he feels some pressure, as the media and fans see him as a likely successor of famous Gilas team big man Andry Blatche.

"Andry Blatche is a legend, a big-time player. Especially for Philippines basketball," Sotto said. "And yes, he is a role model, and I would like to be that good and vital for the Gilas squad."

FIBA