Gilas Pilipinas after its game against Italy in the Fiba World Cup. -MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines–With eighteen days to go before the Asian Games, the Gilas Pilipinas remains without a coach—and a roster.
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) president Al Panlilio said the national federation will address those issues as soon as the 2023 Fiba World Cup wraps up.
“We wanted to first complete the World Cup,” he said in a television interview with News5 on Monday. “I think the focus should be on the World Cup.”
“Gilas just ended its campaign with a big win against China [but] we still have this week to run the most important phase of the tournament, the final phase,” he said.
The global showcase is now in its knockout phase and has been reduced to just eight nations looking to become the new champion after Spain’s early exit on Sunday night.
Four teams, according to Panlilio, flew in on Monday—among them the Luka Dončić-led Slovenia and Latvia.
“That’s the main focus for us. Finishing that, completing that first,” he said of the knockout phase that gets going at Mall of Asia in Pasay City.
The World Cup’s final is scheduled on Sunday, Sept. 10, which will leave the national federation—already teetering on the edge after Chot Reyes’ announcement that he is “stepping aside” as coach and the looming absence of Filipino standouts plying their trade overseas—just 13 days to put together a team for the continental showcase that China will host in Hangzhou.
The Filipinos are scheduled to open this year’s campaign against Brunei on Sept. 26 3:30 p.m. at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium.
Gilas Pilipinas, which will lean on naturalized player Justin Brownlee, is also bunched with Jordan and Thailand in the tournament.
The Philippines finished 5th with a 3-2 win-loss in the previous edition of the Asian Games, which was staged in Jakarta, Indonesia. That squad featured the core of Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and was reinforced by a young Jordan Clarkson.