Gilas Pilipinas big man AJ Edu during a game against Chinese Taipei in the 2025 Fiba Asia Cup.–FIBA PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Just hours before Gilas Pilipinas’ opening game against Chinese Taipei in the Fiba Asia Cup, coach Tim Cone had said Gilas’ coaching staff could only do so much in preparing the team and “now it’s on the players to go out there and really play their game.”

AJ Edu echoed Cone’s sentiments and urged Gilas, including himself, to step up following a loss to Taipei Wednesday morning (Manila time) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

READ: Chinese Taipei coach relishes win over ‘experienced’ Gilas in Fiba Asia Cup

“The coaches can give us all the schemes and prepare us all they can but I think us guys on the court have to take responsibility as well,” said Edu after the 95-87 setback.

“I think it wasn’t a thing of underestimating them [Chinese Taipei]. We knew how good they were coming into this game and it’s just on us as players to step up, knowing how good they are.”

Edu did what he could as a starter and finished with eight points, 12 rebounds, three assists and a steal.

The athletic big man put up decent numbers in 20 minutes of action but not enough against a fast-starting Taipei side, which took an early 17-point lead and never looked back.

SCHEDULE: Gilas Pilipinas at 2025 Fiba Asia Cup

“Obviously, [it’s] a tough loss. I think we got punched early and we didn’t punch back,” said Edu.

Veteran guard Chen Ying-Chun torched the Philippines with a blistering 34-point performance, highlighted by six triples.

Justin Brownlee scored a team-high 19 points on top of seven rebounds but Gilas failed to draw ample production from its other key cogs as June Mar Fajardo, Dwight Ramos and CJ Perez struggled to make their presence felt.