Gilas Pilipinas’ Olympic hopes are still alive

While Gilas Pilipinas’ hopes of making it into the Top 16 of the 2019 FIBA World Cup are gone, there’s still an opening for an outright berth for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. But that will depend on a number of possibilities that must go Team Pilipinas’ way.

China must lose to Venezuela

You can stop reading the rest of the article if China wins against Venezuela. A victory brings them to the round of 16 wherein they will face Argentina and Russia. But by merely making into the second round, the Chinese will finish the World Cup as the best Asian team, giving them that automatic Olympic slot.

However, the Venezuela men’s basketball team is no pushover. They defeated the Ivory Coast, 87-71, behind Heissler Guillent’s 28 points. Jhornan Zamora added 14 while Nestor Colmenares and Miguel Ruiz contributed ten apiece. Though they have several scoring options, coach Hector Fernando’s men should neutralize China’s core of Yi Jianlian, Guo Ailun, Zhou Qi, and Zhai Xiaochuan.

If Venezuela defeats the host team, that’s where things start to get interesting.

Gilas must top Group N in the classification phase

If China loses, all Asian nations in the World Cup will participate in the 17-32^nd classification round. Japan isn’t pressured to do great in this phase, though, because they get an outright berth as Olympic hosts. Therefore, that spot for the best Asian team will be contested by China, Philippines, Iran, Jordan, and South Korea.

Jordan’s chances are slim because they will face Canada and Senegal. Meanwhile, the Koreans will contend with the Ivory Coast and either China or Venezuela. This doesn’t guarantee a walk in the park for Gilas because waiting for them in the classification are Iran and either Tunisia or Puerto Rico.

We all know that a match-up against the Iranians will always be challenging. They have a beast in Hamed Haddadi and an able scorer in Samad Nikkhah Bahrami. Behnam Yakchalidehkordi and Mohammad Jamshidijafarabadi have provided constant support for their two main players as well.

On the other hand, Tunisia has Salah Mejri and Michael Roll as their top guns. Omar Abada, Mourad El Mabrouk, and Makram Ben Romdhane can deliver the goods when the opportunity arises. Finally, Puerto Rico has David Huertas who scored 32 in their comeback win against Iran. Gilas should also mark Gian Clavell and Gary Browne if the match-up pushes through. Of course, we’ve seen what Renaldo Balkman can do on offense.

Winning over Angola would be a nice consolation

But before any of those possibilities occur, Gilas Pilipinas will close out Group D play against Angola. The Philippines did better than the Angolans against Italy and Serbia in terms of average points. Angola averaged 60 points against the two European powerhouses while the Philippines posted 64.5 points per contest. However, Angola’s final deficits are way better than Gilas.

Defense should be Coach Yeng Guiao’s priority against Will Voigt’s crew. Gilas must neutralize center Yanick Moreira who has averaged 11.5 points in two games and guard Carlos Morais who checks in with 12.5 per outing. Leonel Paulo can also wreak havoc off the bench while Gerson Domingos and Reggie Moore must be accounted for as well.

On the other hand, this must be the game where Andray Blatche breaks out. He’s had forgetful performances against Italy and Serbia and is raring to bounce back. Ball movement should be crisper to free up the Gilas shooters too. Finally, the Filipino ballers should go all out this time to finish the group stage on a positive note.

(Photo: FIBA)