Gilas Pilipinas: Serbia no. 1 World Cup team right now, says Paul Lee

After experiencing first hand what it’s like to get blown out by Serbia, Gilas Pilipinas guard Paul Lee said the European favorites are the best squad in the 2019 FIBA World Cup as of the moment.

Gilas lost badly to the Nikola Jokic-led Serbians, 126-67 in Group D play. The nationals have formally been eliminated after losing twice in 3 days.

“It’s a tough loss. We did our job just to keep the game close but I think Serbia is the number one team right now,” said Lee, who scored 15 points in the brutal loss.

Serbia shot a pristine 75% from the field and had 7 players scoring in double-digits. Nemanja Bjelica had 20 points on a perfect 7/7 shooting while Bogdan Bogdanovic added 17 points including 4 triples.

In contrast, Gilas shot 37% from the floor, and failed to connect from long distance as they went a paltry 4/24 from deep.

“Coach told us just level our game; our goal this game was to level up our game compared to (Italy), the intensity on offense and defense. I think nakuha naman namin yon but Serbia is too much for us.”

Gilas will face Angola with hopes to tally their 1st win in the World Cup.