After falling short against Iran, Team Philippines finally gets an easy assignment when it plays host to Qatar today in the second round of the Fiba World Cup qualifiers.
The game set at the Smart Araneta Coliseum is closed to the public as a consequence of the free-for-all that erupted between Gilas Pilipinas and Australia in their second meeting in the first round of the Qualifiers at Philippine Arena in Bulacan last July.
Now handled by Yeng Guiao, the Nationals, who took over as Gilas bets, are heavily favored to improve their two-round cumulative record to 5-3 behind Australia and Iran, which show the way in Group F with similar 6-1 slates following home victories last Thursday. The Aussies blasted the Qataris, 95-43, while the Iranians took advantage of the Filipinos’ scant preparation with an overhauled lineup for an 81-73 decision.
The Nationals own an 80-74 win over Qatar despite missing Andray Blatche in the 2017 Fiba Asia Cup. And the Qataris didn’t enhance their chances this time by failing to survive the qualifying round of the recent Asian Games with losses to Chinese Taipei and Japan.
The Filipinos, with Blatche back in the lineup, have beaten the Taiwanese and the Japanese twice in the Qualifiers before salvaging fifth place in the Asiad with a new squad hastily formed by Guiao and reinforced by Fil-Am Jordan Clarkson of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Japeth Aguilar and Matthew Wright are expected to rejoin the PH roster against Qatar. The two received the lightest suspension of one game each among the 10 Gilas mainstays who were sacked by Fiba in the aftermath of the rhubarb sparked by the roughhousing Australians.
After Qatar (2-5), the Nationals play host to their Asiad victim Kazakhstan (3-4) on Nov. 30. They get a chance for revenge against Iran on Dec. 3, then wind up their schedule on the road on Feb. 21 against Qatar and on Feb. 14 against Kazakhstan.
Only the top three teams from Group F advance to the 2019 Fiba World Cup in China.