WHERE in the world will Gilas Pilipinas and the rest of rest of the Group A teams play their final games in the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers?
That's the burning question after the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) pulled the plug on its Clark bubble hosting this February amid heightened concerns over the new strain of COVID-19 and the subsequent travel ban imposed by the government.
But it's not just the Group A teams, namely the Philippines, Korea, Indonesia, and Thailand, which are dealing with this problem, but also Group C squads Australia, New Zealand, Guam, and Hong Kong.
These eight nations were set to play their final qualifying games at Angeles University Foundation Gym and stay in a bubble environment at Quest Hotel inside the Clark Freeport Zone from Feb. 18 to 22.
Now that the Clark bubble is no more, everyone's asking: where to?
All signs point to the games being moved elsewhere, although Fiba will be hard pressed for time in finding a new host city with a little less than a month left before the scheduled qualifying window.
Actually, Fiba has already made a hosting change for this third window, with the Group B games originally set in Tokyo now to be staged in Doha, Qatar.
That means Group B, composed of Japan, China, Chinese Taipei, and Malaysia, will be playing their games in the same bubble as that of Group E, which has hosts Qatar, as well as Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, the bubble in Manama, which hosted Gilas Pilipinas and other Group A teams in the second window last November, is already booked for two more groups.
Playing there will be Group D teams led by Lebanon and hosts Bahrain, who are both already qualified for the continental tilt, and India and Iraq, as well as Group F teams Jordan, Kazakhstan, Palestine, and Sri Lanka.
It's the tough position Fiba has found itself in as it seeks to complete the 16-team cast for the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup set in Indonesia this August.
Gilas is also in a tough spot.
The national team, under program director Tab Baldwin and coach Jong Uichico, has been holed up at the Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna for two weeks now preparing for the February qualifiers.
There is no word on whether they will break camp on push on even with the uncertainty of the final window of the qualifiers evert pushing through.
Gilas needs only one victory from its three games in this window, against Korea on Feb. 18 and 22 and versus Indonesia on Feb. 20, to formalize its entry to the tournament proper.
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