Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Gilas Pilipinas has been slotted in Group B of the 2016 Fiba Asia Challenge Cup set in Iran from Sept. 9 to 18.
The Filipinos, who will be bringing in a team that consists of the best amateur standouts in the country, will be facing Chinese Taipei and India in the group stages.
All three teams will move on to the next round, where Group A teams China, Jordan, and Kazakhstan await them.
Group C is made up of host Iran and fellow Arab countries Qatar and Iraq, while Group D will have Japan, Korea, and Thailand.
All three squads in each group will advance to the second round, where they will be merged to form two groups of six.
The top four teams in each group will go on in a crossover knockout phase from the quarterfinals all the way to the championship round.
Gilas coach Josh Reyes was tasked to lead the team for the meet and has been working with a 24-man pool since last week.
Bobby Ray Parks Jr., Kiefer Ravena, Kevin Ferrer, Mac Belo, and Jiovani Jalalon are all expected to lead the squad, which will be playing without any naturalized player.