ONLY two Australia players from the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 will be returning for its game with the Philippines in the World Cup 2027 qualifiers which will take place on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Reyne Smith and Jack White were called up for Window 2 campaign for the Boomers after their stint in the FIBA Asia Cup where they dispatched the Philippines in the quarterfinals, 84-60, on their way to the gold.
READ: Gilas keeps status quo, parades same line-up against Australia
Smith averaged 9.0 points on 37 percent shooting from threes, while White had 6.0 points and 6.2 rebounds during the Asia Cup.
The other players already have experience in the World Cup qualification tournaments in Sam Froling, Mitch Creek, and Nick Kay, the only holdover from the July 2, 2018 brawl that occurred between the Philippines and Australia.
Isaac White, Tom Wilson, David Okwera, Elijah Pepper, and Boomer debutants Jacob Holt, Tanner Krebs, and Kody Stattmann complete the line-up.
Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone said Australia remains a formidable foe even with the impression that the Boomers don’t exactly have their best team for Window 2.
And unlike New Zealand where the national squad had played them a couple of times, the FIBA Asia Cup was the only other time the Philippines faced Australia since the 2018 brawl.
“We are less familiar with Australia, but we did get to play them in the FIBA Cup,” Cone said recently. “They can bring 13 NBA players if they want to, but obviously, the NBA is ongoing so those guys won’t be playing.”
“They’ve proven to be so formidable even without their NBA guys so we will see,” Cone added.
Despite the daunting odds, Cone said that they will do everything in order to defend their home court and come out with a victory before the window ends.
“We’re at home. I think the most important thing is that we’re at home. We’re defending our home court. I always say home court in front of our fans is by far the most important thing we ever do is playing in front of our fans and trying to defend our home court. That’s our attitude right now. Whatever it takes, we're going to defend our home court,” said Cone.
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