Gilas Pilipinas vs. Estonia: Score and Reaction for 2015 Toyota Four Nations Cup

The Philippines' defensive struggles continued in a 90-80 loss to host nation Estonia in the 2015 Toyota Four Nations Cup on Friday. The Gilas Pilipinas fall to 0-2 in the tournament with one game to go.

Janar Talts led the way for Estonia at the offensive end with 20 points in less than 16 minutes of action. Tanel Kurbas (13 points), Siim-Sander Vene (12) and Reinar Hallik (11) also reached double digits in scoring. Andray Blatche had 16 points in a losing effort.

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
Philippines	18	17	22	23	80
Estonia	33	22	22	13	90

The Philippines are still trying to find a comfort zone under the direction of new head coach Tab Baldwin as they prepare for the FIBA Asia Championship next month. The results from the first two games in Estonia show there's plenty of room for improvement.

That doesn't come as a major surprise, though. Baldwin explained before the tournament that growing pains were likely as part of the development process, as noted by Randolph B. Leongson of Inquirer.net.

"At this stage, we need our mind more than our heart," Baldwin said. "And that might mean we might not play our best, but I'm OK with that as long as we improve and we grow."

After giving up 89 points in Thursday's loss to the Netherlands, including a disastrous 29-4 third quarter, the Philippines once again struggled to get stops early against Estonia. The team fell behind 33-18 after the opening period as a result.

The hosts stretched the lead to 20 by halftime, as they shot 47 percent from the field, making eight of 18 attempts from beyond the arc.

While the Gilas Pilipinas have flashed potential on the offensive end, the overall level of play isn't up to par at this point. It's something that concerns Enzo Flojo of HoopNut.com:

The Philippines were better after the break. They played a level third quarter and then tried to make a late charge in the fourth, eventually cutting the lead to single digits.

In the end, however, the deficit was simply too large to overcome, as Estonia got the stops the team needed down the stretch to secure the victory.

Despite the second straight loss, Carlo Pamintuan of Slam PH felt the performance was more complete than the one the team put together Thursday:

Ariane Karlo Sacamos of Spin.ph also noticed the revitalized play:

If Baldwin is just looking for signs of progress, they finally started to arrive in the second half, as the Philippines were far more competitive. It's still a long way from where they need to be in order to contend at the upcoming Asia Championship, though.

Give Estonia credit for picking up on the weaknesses the Gilas Pilipinas showed in their first game against the Netherlands and exploiting them in the first half. The team played some nice inside-out basketball to build a lead it never relinquished.

The hosts now sit atop the tournament table with the final games set for Saturday. Estonia will take on the Netherlands, which lost to Iceland earlier Thursday to leave both sides at 1-1, while the Philippines will try to get in the win column against the Nordic side.