Dwight Ramos saw Gilas Pilipinas' game against Australia in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 as an opportunity to gauge where he is now as a player.
Australia gave Dwight Ramos and Co. a taste of world-class basketball in its 84-60 win over Gilas Pilipinas in their FIBA Asia Cup quarterfinal tussle Wednesday night, Aug. 13. (Manila time)
Ramos could only see the silver lining in the defeat: it was an opportunity to learn from the world No. 7 basketball powerhouse.
“I’m glad we’re able to play against Australia. To lose like that, there's a lot of stuff to learn,” Ramos said after the match at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
[RELATED STORY: Dwight Ramos says Gilas Pilipinas need to work on defense after FIBA Asia Cup exit]
Ramos had a tough time from deep against the Aussies, logging a harrowing 1-for-11 clip from there. But he still managed to collect 15 points on top of seven rebounds, two assists and a steal.
The outcome only lit a fire in Ramos to get better, hopefully by leaps and bounds, as Gilas takes on the same team in the World Cup Asian Qualifiers three months from now.
“It’s my first time playing against Australia, so I really wanted to see how good they were. And they proved it,” he said.
“It lights a fire [in me]. [I'm excited to] go back home and start working, trying to compete.”
[RELATED STORY: No Gilas plan worked vs Aussies in FIBA Asia Cup QF, says Cone: 'They just overwhelmed us']
Overall, Ramos expressed how proud he is of the team's resilience throughout the tournament.
“I’m proud of the guys. We lost to Taipei; we lost to New Zealand. We could have just lost to Iraq if we just gave up; we would have gone home, but it would have been embarrassing. But we won that game,” he said.
“And then we had a tight game against Saudi Arabia. We’re down, we still fought back, and we made it here. Overall, I’m just proud of the guys. I can't wait to see them again in November.”