With qualifiers over, Gilas’ next move depends on World Cup draw
Gilas Pilipinas. Photo from Fiba
BOCAUE — Gilas Pilipinas will have to wait until summer before it continues to plot for the 2023 Fiba World Cup.
National coach Chot Reyes said that the cage program will have to wait for the global showcase’s Draw Ceremony, which is set April 29 in a yet-to-be-determined venue in Manila.
“We have to wait for the (Fiba World Cup) draw. It’s very difficult to plan and prepare blindly,” he said in the post-game presser of the Philippines’ narrow 91-90 loss to Jordan in the final match of the Asian Qualifiers at the Philippine Arena here.
“We have to figure out who is in our group to know how we are going to prepare,” he went on.
Reyes said that being able to identify which nations the Philippines is going to be grouped with shapes Gilas’ preparations for the August games.
“We’re going to go on a training camp and play tune-up games, but we have to know who we are going to play and that’s going to be determined by who is in our bracket, in our group.”
A total of 32 nations are going to duke it out in the global meet that gets going on August 23. Angola, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ivory Coast, and South Sudan comprise the qualified teams from Africa. Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and powerhouse United States comprise the bunch from the Americas.
Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, and defending champion Spain make up the European delegation. Australia, China, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, and New Zealand, meanwhile, compose the Asia and Oceania group that will be bannered by the Philippines and cohost Japan.
In a previous interview, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Al Panlilio said that it is planning to have Gilas pitch camps in Europe and the United States, following a similar blueprint it used during the 2014 World Cup in Seville, Spain.
In that build-up, the Philippines trained in Miami, figured in a pocket tournament in Nice, France, and then in another in Guadalajara, Spain.
“The only thing that’s on our plate right now is when to call the guys in practice for the (Southeast Asian Games) [in Cambodia] on May 5,” Reyes said.
“These guys, they’re playing on Wednesday,” he added, referring to Ginebra ace Jamie Malonzo. “It’s gonna be a quick turnaround for a lot of the guys on the team. And like I said, it is what it is. So right now, for the World Cup, there’s [nothing laid down] until we find [things] out in the draw.”
