by Dave Albarado
Gilas is going to play all out in Fiba World Cup qualifiers
Even with a secured spot as host of 2023 Fiba Basketball World Cup, Gilas will still go all out and compete during the qualification windows of the quadrennial showpiece.
Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas (SBP) Special Assistant Ryan Gregorio said that Gilas will still consider the qualification as must win games even if in reality, they all do not have any bearing at all.
Win or lose, Gilas will still qualify for the World Cup of Basketball.
The top placers in the qualification window will earn a ticket to the World Cup in 2023, which is jointly hosted by Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Gilas has a spot secured for the World Cup together with Japan. Meanwhile, Indonesia will have to qualify to join the two other hosts in the biggest international basketball extravaganza, which happens once in every 4 years.
The next World Cup is an opportunity for Gilas to redeem itself after a nightmarish campaign in 2019. Gilas ended at 32nd place out of 32 countries that compared in the World Cup in China.
“It doesn’t change anything. We’re still going to prepare as if there’s a slot that we’re fighting for,” Gregorio said.
It seems Gilas will be heading towards a huge battle in the first round of the qualification windows. Gilas has been drawn into Group A with New Zealand, Korea Republic, and India for the first round, with only the top three teams progressing to the next phase.
Gilas may have a better chance with Korea Republic considering the Philippines beat the East Asian country twice last July 2021.
Coach Tab Baldwin is looking to mix it up with his adopted country, New Zealand, with tall and agile players.
The top 3 teams in a group will advance to the next phase. Gilas looks to have a fair chance against India, a rising basketball power in Asia.
The competition is a chance for coach Baldwin and his young pool to continue to develop chemistry as it plays against elite competition.
Gilas looks to sustain the momentum from its past performances after its 6-0 run in the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers to top Group A, including big wins over Korea, as well as its promising performances against Serbia and the Dominican Republic in the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade.
For Gregorio, it’s important for Gilas to build on those positive outcomes.
The core of the Gilas team will be more or less the one that played in Clark and in Belgrade. The huge question is the player availability during the windows—particularly Kai Sotto.
Sotto is now in Adelaide working out with the 36ers team in the pre-season and he might not be given the green light by his mother team to play in the windows.
“For coach Tab, the important thing is the mechanism of continuity. Those players who play longer together and go up against tough opponents, we have this saying that we have our competitors because they just bring out the best in us. So what we need right now is for these players to be together for a longer period of time, making themselves available for flag and country, and that I think will answer most of the questions that we have right now, who are the players that we know will represent us well,” Gregorio said.