Team USA victorious over Batang Gilas

Gulf News

Team USA defeats Batang Gilas at the World Under 17 Basketball Championships. Outmatched Batang Gilas Pilipinas welcomes opportunity to play against Team USA at the FIBA Under-17 Championships in Dubai. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv

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00:00Team USA completed a sweep of its group matches after beating Team Philippines in the World

00:22Under-17 Basketball Championship at the El Ali Club in Dubai.

00:26The Americans also defeated Greece and Angola in their other group matches.

00:30Despite the huge size disadvantage, the Filipinos said they welcomed the opportunity to be grouped

00:36with the best team in the tournament.

00:37We prayed hard that we would be bracketed with Team USA because it's only a dream to

00:45play the best of the best and in the World Championship, that's Team USA.

00:49Coming into the game like this, we respected the Philippines and how they play a great

00:53deal.

00:54I mean, they're very fast, they're very quick.

00:55We don't overlook anybody even though we got some size and some really good athletic ability.

01:00We take every team that we play, we respect every team we play, we take them seriously.

01:05And I think Philippines does a lot of really good things.

01:08You know, they're not size-wise, they just can't compete yet.

01:11Although they came into the match the clear underdog, the Philippine squad had the full

01:15backing of a jam-packed Filipino crowd who applauded every single one of the 64 points

01:20scored by the Philippine team.

01:22The fans were equally appreciative of the showmanship displayed by Team USA, especially

01:26the Americans' thunderous dunks and picture-perfect alley-oops.

01:30The Filipinos actually kept the game close early on, but the athletic season and the

01:34height advantage of the Americans were simply too much for the underdogs.

01:38Height will always be an advantage in basketball, but the future is bright for us Filipinos

01:45because this is the first time for us to be here in the world championship at this age.

01:50And hopefully this will not be the last for us.

01:53This should be a consistent basis for us for all Filipinos.

01:57It was a fun crowd.

01:58We enjoyed playing against a full house like this.

02:01We enjoy having people support their team.

02:05And tonight was a great deal because the people here supported the Philippines and it was

02:09just fun to play in.

02:10What we really wanted is to show the entire world how big the hearts of the Filipinos are.

02:16Not only in basketball, but the Filipino spirit that never gives up.

02:20Like the people here in Dubai, they keep on coming and they keep on cheering no matter

02:25what the score is.

02:27That's the true passion of a Filipino.

02:29That's the true heart of a Filipino.

02:31Josh Jackson led Team USA with 16 points while Team Philippines was led by Jolla Mendoza

02:37with 19 points.

02:38Actually, everybody's playing good, but we're just very small.

02:43But Jolla Mendoza and Mike Nieto, together with Jolla Go, they're really performing well.

02:49Team USA advanced to the knockout round with a clean slate and was set to face Japan in

02:54its next game.

02:55The Philippines, likewise, move into the next stage despite dropping all its group matches

03:00and will play the undefeated French team.

03:03Irish Iden Balieza for Golf News.

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