Gilas Pilipinas will play Guam in a pair of games in Window 1 of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. The Filipinos must win both matches on the road and at home.
Tim Cone could not stress enough the importance of Gilas Pilipinas’ home-and-away games against Guam in the first window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
For Cone, the dream to make the 2027 World Cup and the 2028 LA Olympics hinged entirely on the said matches on Nov. 28 and Dec. 1.
“If we don’t win this window, we don’t make the World Cup. If we don’t make the World Cup, we can’t make the Olympics,” Cone said during the team’s sendoff Monday, Nov. 24.
“So if we don’t win these two games, all of our goals are dashed. That’s how crucial these two games are.”
[WATCH: GILAS LIVESTREAM: Guam vs Gilas Pilipinas | FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers]
His sentiment stemmed from the fact that Gilas is bunched in Group A, which also features powerhouses Australia and New Zealand.
While Cone and his Gilas crew are bent on scoring wins against these two teams, history suggests odds are stacked against the Filipino dribblers.
To advance to the next round of the World Cup Qualifiers, Gilas has to finish third in the bunch.
A pair of wins against the island nation led by San Miguel ace Jericho Cruz is an insurance that whatever happens against the Boomers and Tall Blacks, Gilas will march on when Group A merges with C for the next phase.
“To get to the Olympics, we have to get to the World Cup. To get to the World Cup, we have to have a record that's at least third place, so we can advance into the second round,” Cone said.
“After the second round, we have to be one of the top seven teams in all of Asia to make it to the World Cup.”
Things only get tougher from there, said the PBA’s winningest mentor.
“But there are, like, nine teams, including us, that are going for those seven spots,” Cone said, referring to teams like Lebanon, Jordan, China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, as well as Chinese Taipei, which beat Gilas in the Asia Cup last August.
The Nationals will first clash with Guam in its home turf on Nov. 28 before hosting the island nation at the Ateneo Blue Eagle Gym three days later.
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Like most sportswriters, Jan Ballesteros once dreamed of becoming a professional hooper. But he learned the hard way that it’s not for everyone.
He continues to be involved in the sport he loves, but this time as a member of the PBA Press Corps. Aside from primarily covering the PBA, he is also assigned to cover Gilas Pilipinas.