The Gilas Pilipinas-Australia showdown this Thursday for the Fiba World Qualifiers for the 2019 games in China will be decided by energy and smart basketball.
Australia is the understandable favored team, given its height advantage. The team called the Boomers which are male kangaroos (one of two Australian national animals, the other one being the emu, an ostrich-like bird native to the country) is ranked 10th in the world and have always performed well on the international stage.
Of late, they are the Asian champions, since the team has been realigned with the rest of Asia in the last Fiba Asia competition. The Aussies move the ball briskly and use their height to full advantage. Gilas will be hard-pressed to deal with a team where almost everybody can score.
And yet coach Chot Reyes has done well against taller and energetic teams in the past. In the 2014 Fiba World Championship, Gilas created chances to win against the height, heft and strength of Croatia, Greece, Argentina and Puerto Rico. These teams were seriously threatened by Gilas and just managed to recover in the final stretch. Even if it won just once (against Senegal), Gilas showed that it could compete against some of the world’s best teams if it played with zeal and zest.
Against Australia, the odds may be stacked against Gilas, more so that the team is the visiting squad in Melbourne. The Philippines will have to play with a high level of energy and teamwork to keep the game close. An early insurmountable lead is too hard to recover from in the shorter Fiba game—40 minutes compared to the 48-minute pro distance.
There has to be quicker ball sharing and shooter set-ups against the Boomers. Andray Blatche will have to trust the ability of his teammates to nail the open shots. Gilas can’t afford to simply use Filipino speed against the Aussies. They will have to make their shots and force Aussie turnovers along the way.
The lack of ample practice is an issue but Gilas is accustomed to this by now. The concept of having a full team dedicated solely for international play may no longer be a viable model in the present because players do have to stay razor-sharp in actual competition with their home teams in the Philippine Basketball Association. Gilas will be like a boxing challenger marching into the den of the defending champion. It must fight with the intention to steal the crown.