The Philippine men’s national basketball team needs at least three wins to book the only ticket to Rio at stake in the Olympic qualifying tournament in Manila.
The Philippines is in Group B together with France and New Zealand, and a victory in the preliminary stage gives Gilas Pilipinas a great chance to be one of the top two teams in each group to advance to the knockout, crossover semifinals.
The Philippines is set to tangle with powerhouse France, which has NBA great Tony Parker and Boris Diaw, in its opening game on July 5.
In case of a tie where all three teams in one group end up with similar 1-1 slates, quotient will be applied.
In the semis, the No. 1 ranked team in Group A, which consists of Canada, Turkey and Senegal, will take on the No. 2 team in Group B, vise versa.
If they survive the group stages, there is a good chance that the Filipinos need to get past either the Canadians, led by Toronto Raptors guard Corey Joseph and NBA champion Tristan Thompson of the Cleveland Cavaliers, or the Turks, with NBA center Omer Asik of the New Orleans Pelicans in town, to get to the final round.
The final, set on July 10, is a winner-take-all with only the champion earning a spot in the Rio Olympics next month.
There are actually three qualifying tournaments that will be played simultaneously in three different countries. The other two will be staged in Italy and Serbia.
France and Canada are the the heavy favorites to win the Manila qualifiers.
The Philippines is eyeing its first trip to the Summer Games since the 1972 Olympics in Munich.