MANILA, Philippines — Dwight Ramos is as good as advertised.
Ramos came through with a “perfect” shooting game as all-cadet Gilas Pilipinas overpowered Thailand, 93-61, Friday night in the first of their two duels in the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers in Manama, Bahrain.
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A 20-year-old, 6-5 Ateneo recruit from California, Ramos made all of the seven shots he took to finish with a game-high 20 points while displaying the other facets of his game by coming up with seven rebounds, three assists and the same number of steals.
“The ball just went in today (Friday), I felt good,” said Ramos on his impressive national team debut.
But Ramos could face tougher defense when they take on the Thais Monday night (9 p.m., Philippine time).
It could serve as a gauge on how really good Ramos is after he caught attention of several college scouts when he suited up for Walnut High School before joining US NCAA Division 1 Cal State Fuller and later Division 2 Cal Poly-Pomona.
Then he decided to join Ateneo where he is expected to play next season.
For Gilas coach Jong Uichico, he was just happy they won despite the lack of preparation.
“Coming into this game, we really were not sure how we’re going to play because of the long layoff and we were just feeling ourselves at the start of the game,” said Uichico. “Fortunately, the game turned around.”
One of the biggest keys was bench depth. Aside from Ramos, Gilas has just too many weapons.
Justine Baltazar and Juan Gomez de Liano each fired 12 points while Javi Gomez de Liano, Rey Suerte, Mike Nieto and Isaac Go joined the scoring parade and combined for 32 points.