Gilas Pilipinas Women officially bowed out of contention for the FIBA Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament with an 85-38 loss to world No. 7 Canada in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Wednesday (Thursday, PST).
The same two names once again led the way for the Philippines, with Jack Animam the lone double-digit scorer with 11 points and seven rebounds while Vanessa De Jesus added nine points but committed seven turnovers.
As Gilas Women prepare to face Senegal to cap their campaign, here are two takeaways from their loss to Canada -- including how promising forward Kacey Dela Rosa continues to navigate a new role and the pressing issue of turnovers.
Dela Rosa's learning curve playing with Animam
Dela Rosa struggled to find her offensive rhythm for the second consecutive game, scoring eight points on 25% shooting from the field, including 1-for-7 from beyond the arc.
But beyond the numbers, Dela Rosa is also adjusting to a different role. Her partnership with Animam has required her to expand her game and operate more as a forward.
In the UAAP, Dela Rosa has been accustomed to dominating the paint, using her size and length to establish herself as one of the league's most imposing interior players.
International basketball, however, demands much more versatility.
At 6 feet, Dela Rosa is no longer the tallest player on the floor, forcing her to find ways to impact the game away from the basket, whether it is spacing the floor, attacking closeouts or making plays from the perimeter.
That adjustment has been particularly evident alongside Animam, who occupies much of the interior.
Rather than constantly playing through Dela Rosa in the post, Gilas Women can use her as a stretch four who can pull opposing bigs away from the basket.
While the opportunity is there, Dela Rosa is still learning how to consistently make herself a threat in that role, especially when her outside shot is not falling. She has shot just 24% from the field through two games.
The competition has also challenged her on the defensive end.
With FIBA teams constantly putting bigs into ball-screen actions, Dela Rosa has had to defend higher up the floor and make quicker decisions in space.
That became an issue against Canada.
Her comfort playing drop coverage gave opposing guards room to come off screens and rise for pull-up jumpers, particularly with shooters spaced around the floor.
Canada finished the game with 12 3-pointers.
When Dela Rosa did step up to contain the ball-handler, however, she sometimes became too aggressive. That contributed to another foul-plagued outing, with the two-time UAAP MVP finishing with four fouls.
It is another part of the learning curve for Dela Rosa: Adjusting not only to a faster and more spaced-out game but also finding the balance between being aggressive and staying disciplined.
Lack of playmakers hurts Gilas Women
Canada knew exactly where the Philippines would turn for its ball-handling responsibilities: De Jesus.
That game plan quickly became apparent, and the Canadians pressured De Jesus relentlessly and made her work for every touch.
With Canada blitzing ball screens and loading up on the ball-handler, the 24-year-old guard struggled to consistently create against the pressure, finishing with seven turnovers as the Philippines became increasingly dependent on its lead guard to generate offense.
Once De Jesus was taken out of the equation, however, Gilas Women had difficulty finding another player who could reliably take over the playmaking responsibilities.
The lack of a secondary creator became one of the biggest issues for the Philippines, particularly whenever Canada forced the ball out of De Jesus' hands and made someone else initiate the offense.
That pressure eventually translated directly onto the scoreboard.
Gilas Women committed 23 turnovers, leading to a 26-7 advantage for Canada in points off turnovers.
More importantly, those giveaways allowed the Canadians to get out and run, resulting in a 25-4 edge in fast-break points.
The rebounding disparity was always going to be difficult to avoid against a Canadian team with a significant size advantage, but Philippines head coach Burke "BT" Toews pointed to ball security as an area entirely within Gilas Women's control.
"Another one is to be able to take care of the ball to some degree," Toews said after the game.
"[23] turnovers [are] not going to do it. They're not all forced by Canada's good deeds.
"We can't control every part of the game. No team can. But there are still things that we can do better."
The turnovers were also a symptom of a larger problem: Canada's ability to disrupt Gilas Women's half-court offense.
Looking ahead, Gilas Women need to find ways to make their ball-screen offense less predictable.
Against teams that can pressure De Jesus and take away her options, having another ball-handler who can create off the dribble will be key to keeping the offense moving and generating quality looks.
"Canada's defense took us out of it, especially the side pick and roll," Toews said.
"We adjusted in the second half with high ball screens, but it was too little, too late. Maybe my adjustment was too slow."