WUHAN (FIBA Asia Championship) - They may have been the story of the Second Round at the FIBA Asia Championship in Wuhan, but on Wednesday the Philippines got a wake-up call that things can change very quickly.

Playing Syria, the 'Smart Gilas' simply weren't the same aggressive team that had overwhelmed Jordan and Japan the two previous days. Syria controlled the tempo and the boards in the first half, taking a 32-22 lead.

After a half time wake up call from coach Rajko Toroman it was business as usual, with the Philippines winning the second half by 32 points. Nevertheless, forward Kelly Williams knows his team must play a lot better if they are going to achieve their basketball-mad country's goal - a gold medal and a place at the London Olympics.

Williams spoke to fiba.com immediately after the game.

FIBA: Congratulations. It wasn't your team's best game today, but another win and you are through to the Quarter-Finals.
Williams: It's good to be there, but with games like this we know we have got a lot of lapses to work on. You've got to start well against these teams, because with any bit of confidence they could hit six or seven threes, you never know.

FIBA: What are your thoughts on the knockout rounds? You have Chinese Taipei on Friday and then if you win, it looks like a Semi-Final with Iran.
Williams: We are just going to focus on who we have got next. We've played them a few times in the Jones Cup, they always come with a strong team, and their big guy (Tseng Wen-Ting) is always pretty dominant. I am sure whatever the coaches put together will be good, and we're going to do our best to execute it.

FIBA: What about from your end? What are the things your team needs to do well?
Williams: The main thing for us is to come out strong and focused, and make sure we are doing our assignments. Today we blew them a few times early in the game and that's why we struggled. I think we'll be fine as long as we can get our heads in the game early and start out strong.

FIBA: Was today good for the team do you think? Perhaps a bit of a reminder that you aren't good enough to go away from the team things and still win.
Williams: Definitely. I think that's in any team. We are not as big as team like China, but it always comes down to cohesiveness and how you play together. We could be the smallest team in the tournament - and we have been a few times and been successful. We just have to come out stronger, like you said it's a big reminder of the things we need to work on, mainly coming out with aggressiveness and staying on top of our assignments.

source: FIBA