Tough grind looms for PH

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net

With its victory expected in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (Seaba) Championship that tips off this Friday at Smart Araneta Coliseum, Gilas Pilipinas will progress to the World Cup Qualifiers in November in a group that includes global power Australia.

The International Basketball Federation (Fiba) made the draw in Guangzhou, China, on Sunday night with the Philippines landing in Group B of a four-bracket tournament that starts the complicated home-and-away series leading to the 2019 World Cup proper, also scheduled in China.

Japan and many-time Gilas Pilipinas nemesis Chinese Taipei are the other two teams in Group B, where the Filipinos need to finish in the top three to advance to the next round.

Being the top-ranked team in Southeast Asia, the Philippines’ name was placed in Group B.

“Our name was put there as a place-holder,” Gilas head coach Chot Reyes said. “That slot actually goes to the Seaba winner.”

The availability of the Nationals for the initial qualifying phase has cropped up this early, however.

The games in the tournament’s first round will be played on Nov. 20 to 28, Feb. 19 to 27 and June 25 to July 3—right in the middle of three conferences in the PBA, where all the Gilas players see action.

China, as host of the 2019 tournament, is automatically seeded and will await seven other qualifiers from Asia and the Oceania in the main draw.

Fiba included Oceania in the Asian tournament with New Zealand landing in Group A together with China, South Korea and Hong Kong.

From the World Cup, the Fiba qualifying tournament continues all the way to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where a total of four qualifying events will be held.

The Andray Blatche-reinforced Gilas five starts the long journey with a title victory in the Seaba, slated May 12 to 18.
The Filipinos open up against lowly Burma (Myanmar) and finish their schedule against Indonesia.

The Seaba tournament will be a single-round affair with the team that posts the most number of wins emerging as champion.