‘Group A gives Gilas better chance to avoid Iran, China in Fiba Asia quarters’

Smart Gilas in Tokyo, Japan. FILE PHOTO FROM CHOT REYES TWITTER ACCOUNT

MANILA, Philippines — For a chance to avoid powerhouse nations China and Iran in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Fiba Asia Championship, the Philippines opted to join group A.

But for that to be possible, Smart Gilas Pilipinas needs to finish on top, or at the least second best, of its group after the second round of action.

“[We] wanted to end up 1 or 2 after 2nd round so we avoid China and Iran in quarters,” said national team assistant coach Nash Racela in a text message to INQUIRER.net.

“Group A gives us better chance of achieving this,” he added.

Racela, along with another assistant coach Norman Black, represented the Philippines in the Fiba Asia draw at the Manila Hotel Thursday afternoon as head coach Chot Reyes along with the team are in Lithuania for their two-week camp.

“Good draw. All the players/staff were involved in the process. Choice was unanimous. Good work Norm & @scwtN [Nash],” said Reyes on his Twitter account shortly after the draw.

Philippines, Jordan, Chinese Taipei and Saudi Arabia complete group A.

China, South Korea, Iran, along with another Southeast Asian country, which is yet to be determined, are in group C which appears to be the “group of death.”

Hong Kong, Japan, Qatar and Lebanon are in Group B while Kazakhstan, India, Bahrain and another country from our region are in group D.

The format of the biennial tournament set in August, which dangles seats to the Fiba World Championships, is as follows:

• The teams in each bracket play a single round robin in the preliminaries.
• The top three teams from group A and from group B are bracketed in group E, while top three teams from group C and group D form group F.

• In group E, qualifiers from group A clash against qualifiers in group B, while in group F, qualifiers from group C do the same against qualifiers from group D.

• The top four teams to emerge from group E and likewise from group F, then, figure in a knockout quarterfinals round.

• The first placer of group E tangles with the fourth placer of group F, the second placer of group E battles the third placer of group F, the second placer in group F clashes with the third placer in group E while the first placer in group F faces the fourth placer in group E.

If the Philippines place first or second in group E and Iran and China wound up in first or second place in group F, they won’t meet until the semifinals.