Gilas Pilipinas' Disappointing Defeat to China in Asian Games

NAGOYA, Japan – The sting of Gilas Pilipinas’ collapse to China almost kept Sen. Bong Go from boarding his flight.

A self-confessed basketball junkie, Go admitted he seriously considered scrapping his trip to this bustling Japanese city after watching the national men’s team get dismantled, 105-61, in the preliminary round of the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026.

The loss didn’t just end the country’s reign in the continental showpiece. It cut deep.

“We were watching at the Senate and cheering for Gilas not to lose by 37 points,” Go recalled during a dinner on Saturday, Sept. 19, hosted by Philippine Sports Commission chairman Pato Gregorio.

They didn’t just lose by 37.

“Like every Filipino fan, I was really disappointed. Imagine, losing by 44 points,” he said, the disbelief still evident days after the final buzzer.

Gilas went into that game with what was effectively its “second team,” a makeshift squad thrown into a heavyweight clash with China. The result was brutal: a 61-105 defeat that stripped the Philippines of its standing as a regional force and sent shockwaves through a basketball-mad nation.

Go, though, chose not to stay home and sulk. He pushed through with his travel plans, landing in Nagoya on Wednesday, Sept. 16, and quickly shifting his energy toward another national squad.

On Thursday, he was in the stands, lending his voice to Alas Pilipinas Women in their game against Kazakhstan, embracing a role he has grown into comfortably — that of the country’s ever-present courtside cheerleader.

For him, support cannot be conditional. Not when the athletes are carrying the flag.

Still, the questions won’t go away.

After the Games wrap up, Go said there will be a hard look at what went wrong, particularly with the Gilas program that has long been expected to carry Philippine pride in Asian basketball.

“Need to know why this happened,” he stressed.

The disappointment is raw, the margin of defeat unforgivable by local standards, and the excuses in short supply. The review he speaks of will not just be about one bad night against China, but about how a proud basketball nation found itself outclassed by 44 points on the Asian stage — and what must change to make sure it never happens again.