GILAS Pilipinas faces an upgraded Saudi Arabia team in their all-important qualification match for a place in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 quarterfinals.
READ: Gilas gets Saudi in Asia Cup KO match after hosts dispatch India
While there may be still familiar faces in the Saudi roster which the Philippines swept in the second round of 2022 FIBA World Cup qualification, the Falcons have two new key players who have been carrying the load for the host team so far in its continental meet campaign.
Hotshot Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and center Mohammed Alsuwailem were not with the Saudi squad that lost back-to-back games against a Chot Reyes-coached Gilas three years ago – 84-46 at the Mall of Asia Arena which served as Jordan Clarkson’s first home game with the Philippines and 76-63 in Jeddah when Ange Kouame was paraded as naturalized player.
Abdur-Rahkman serves as the Falcons' naturalized player who leads the team in scoring with averages of 23.7 points – third in all of the tournament – 5.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists.
A 6-foot-3 shooting guard, he played for the Michigan Wolverines who finished runners-up to Villanova in the 2018 U.S. NCAA Finals. He also set a school record for most career games with 144.
Abdur-Rahkman was undrafted in the NBA, but saw action in the G League (Canton Charge) and later, played overseas where he won a championship with Bilbao in the FIBA Europe Cup. He is currently with Italian ballclub Treviso Basket.
Alsuwailem, meanwhile, is a physical 6-foot-9 center playing for domestic team Alula and ranking No. 2 in rebounding with a 12.0 average in the tournament. He also norms 14.7 points and 1.7 assists.
Another newbie against the Filipinos is shooting guard Marzouq Almuwallad, who is contributing 7.3 points per outing.
Meanwhile, old hands for Saudi include Mohammed Almarwani, Fahad Belal, Mathna Almarwani, Khalid Abdel Gabar, Ali Shubayli, Thamer Mahmoud Mohammed, and Musab Tariq Kadi.
The 6-foot Abdel Gabar leads the meet in assists with 7.7 per game and averages 8.3 points and 6.0 rebounds, while Mathna Almarwani and Kadi post similar averages of 7.7 points per outing.
Saudi's strong showing
Saudi, hosting the meet for the second time since 1997, has been a revelation so far.
It pushed many-time champion China to the limit before bowing out, 93-88, and then turned back Jordan before clinching the No. 2 seed in Group C with an 84-59 blowout of India.
Gilas will have its hands full against the home team, as it struggled in its first two games in Group D that resulted in losses to Chinese Taipei (95-87) and New Zealand (94-86), before finally breaking to the win column against Iraq (66-57) to take the third seed and make it to the qualification stage.
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