No easy group for Gilas five in 2014 World Cup elims

MANILA, Philippines — Bracketed in a tough group headed by powerhouse Argentina, Gilas Pilipinas would need to win at least two games to make it past the preliminary round of the 2014 Basketball World Cup in Spain.

The Filipinos will also lock horns with Greece, Croatia, Puerto Rico and Senegal, and coach Chot Reyes readily acknowledged the tough task at hand.

“We have no illusions about our group —it’s a very tough group,” Reyes said in an interview. “But you know, we relish it. We are going to prepare really hard.

“You know, for a team like the Philippines, there is no easy group. Everything is going to be really hard. We would love to be in the second round and to do that, we need to win at least two games and get the chance to progress to the Final 16.

“If we get to the Top 16, that would be fantastic.”

Surviving the preliminaries would put the Philippines in a collision course with LeBron James and other National Basketball Association superstars of the United States, who are in Group C, the crossover group of the Filipinos.

Spain, which will be bannered by Pau and Mark Gasol and Ricky Rubio, belongs to Group A under the bracketing which was determined by the organizing Fiba to prevent the top two teams in the world from having an early collision.

Croatia is ranked 16th in the world, Puerto Rico is a rung below with Senegal the only country ranked lower than the Philippines at 41st. The Filipinos, because of their second place finish in the Fiba-Asia Championship last August, are rated 34th.

South Korea, the country the Philippines beat in Fiba Asia’s Final Four last August for the first time since 1986 to clinch a berth in the Worlds, is in Group D together with Slovenia, Lithuania, Angola, Mexico and Australia.

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