Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes has been vocal in recent interviews that the goal heading into the 2023 FIBA World Cup is to be “the top Asian team” as such scenario assures a spot in next year’s Paris Olympics.
Justin Brownlee (left) PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO
The Philippines is bunched in Group A with the Dominican Republic, ranked 23rd in the world, Angola (41st) and world no. 10 Italy in the opening round.
On the other hand, 16-time Asian champion China is in Group B with sixth-ranked Serbia, Puerto Rico (20th) and South Sudan (62nd).
At the end of the group stage, teams from both groups merge for the second group phase (top two) or for the classification phase (bottom two).
Gilas, amid injury issues that hounded the team, along with the absence of Kai Sotto and Utah Jazz star Jordan Clarkson in team practice at the moment, has a month left to come out with a cohesive unit that will hopefully, be enough to secure a win or two in the group stage.
The Philippine team is slated to leave Manila next week as it faces Iran, Lebanon and Senegal in a pocket tournament in Guangdong, China.
Gilas has just come off a 16-day Europe training camp a few weeks back where the national side played tuneup matches versus Estonia, Finland, Ukraine’s under-20 team and two more squads from Lithuania. The Philippines came home with a 3-3 card in those tuneup matches.
Reyes also confirmed last week that the Filipinos will play the Mexicans in a friendly match, just a week before Gilas makes its FIBA World Cup debut against the Dominican Republic on Aug. 25 at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
In the 2019 edition held China, no Asian squad made it to the second group stage. Thus, any Asian team that chalks up two victories in the opening round will be a cinch to secure the lone slot allotted for the region to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Should the Philippines and China perform similarly in the first group stage, both Asian basketball teams will be in a collision course from there.
Iran nosed out China for the lone Olympic spot during the 2019 world basketball joust by mere points differential, thus, giving the Chinese greater motivation to perform well in this year’s World Cup in Manila.
Serbian Sasha Dordevic will be calling the shots for China, and will have at his disposal Chinese giants Wang Zhelin and Zhou Qi, who were both drafted in the NBA Rookie Draft in 2016.
Except for the game against the Dominican Republic, the rest of Gilas Pilipinas’s group stage matches, will be played at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, including the Philippines’ potential matchup versus China.
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