FOLLOWING an epic comeback to qualify to the quarterfinals, Gilas Pilipinas now guns for a semifinal seat in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025, but it will have to get past an Australia side that's seeking a third straight title in the continental tournament.
READ Who's left from the Gilas-Australia brawl back in 2018?
Led by Justin Brownlee, Gilas Pilipinas pulled off a 95-88 overtime win over Saudi Arabia after their naturalized player scored a three-pointer with 3.7 seconds left to force added time.
Here is a preview of the quarterfinal game where we look at the players to watch and some keys to victory for Gilas Pilipinas.
AUSTRALIA VS. PHILIPPINES
When: Wednesday, August 13. 2 p.m. Jeddah time / Wednesday, August 13. 7 p.m. Philippines time.
Where: King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Gilas, Boomers face off after seven years
The Philippines and Australia go up against each other for the first time since their July 2, 2018 encounter in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian qualifiers where a brawl at the Philippine Arena marred the Boomers' win. This match-up will have a lot more at stake with the winner moving on to the Asia Cup semifinals.
Highly-rated team
Gilas will be up against a high-ranked squad in Australia, pegged at No. 7 in the world at the moment. It is the highest-placed team that Gilas faced since it went up against Latvia, No. 6 at that point, during the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in 2024. The Philippines stunned Latvia, 89-80, in that game. Can Gilas repeat?
Players to watch
A couple of G League players lead Australia in its FIBA Asia Cup 2025 stint.
Jaylin Galloway is leading the charge for the Boomers in this campaign, averaging a team-high 18 points on an efficient 18-of-24 shooting from the field. Last season, the 22-year-old played for the Wisconsin Herd in the G League, and played five games for its NBA affiliate Milwaukee Bucks. Expect his athletic ability to be in full display against Gilas Pilipinas.
Another former G League player is Jack McVeigh, who saw action for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers last season, and had nine appearances with the Houston Rockets last season. The 6-foot-7 McVeigh is also part of the Boomers team that played in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
William Hickey recently played for the Chicago Bulls in the 2025 NBA Summer League, and is coming off a championship with the Illawara Hawks in the NBL-Australia. An all-around player, the 6-foot-4 Hickey averaged 10.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.0 steals during the group stage.
Filipino fans may remember Xavier Cooks, who played in Lapu Lapu City when he played in the EASL Final Four for the eventual champion Chiba Jets.
Youngsters on the spotlight
With an average age of exactly 24 years old, Australia is the youngest team in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025, with no player aged 30 years old or above. Galloway and NCAA players Reyne Smith and Harry Wessels are aged 22. Dash Daniels, brother of NBA player Dyson Daniels, is the youngest on the team at aged 17.
Gilas has an average age of 30.4 but its youngsters AJ Edu (25 years old) and Kevin Quiambao (24 years old) have been an integral part of the team, particularly in the Saudi Arabia game where the two players had 17 points apiece. Dwight Ramos (26 years old) is the team’s second leading scorer while Carl Tamayo (25 years old) is also providing a spark for Gilas with his outside shooting.
Edu, June Mar up against taller bigs
Gilas Pilipinas bigs of AJ Edu and June Mar Fajardo will be matching -up against much-taller players this time in the contest against Australia, which has 6-foot-10 Will Magnay, the Boomers’ skipper, and 7-foot-1 Harry Wessels. Rebounding could be crucial in this game with the Philippines ranking third in that category with 44.0 a game, behind the Boomers (48.7).
Gilas down to 10 men
Gilas Pilipinas is down to 10 players for the FIBA Asia Cup after Cjay Perez and Calvin Oftana sustained ankle injuries in two separate games. While Perez has already been ruled out, Oftana’s status is day-to-day, according to Gilas coach Tim Cone, with the TNT star already having the benefit of a couple of days of rest after sustaining the injury during the Iraq game last Saturday.
Gilas must limit Boomers’ three-point shooting
Australia has been one of the most efficient three-point shooting teams in the FIBA Asia Cup, making 41.9 percent (36-of-86) from the outside, with Jaylin Galloway converting a tournament-best 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from rainbow country. Watch out for Jack McVeigh (10-of-23) and Reyne Smith (9-of-21) as well for the game against the Philippines.
Gilas must keep the score low in order to have a chance as Australia is averaging a second-best 100 points during the tournament.
Taking care of the ball
Every possession counts for Gilas against highly-rated Australia so they can’t afford to throw the ball away. The Philippines is averaging 10.8 turnovers in the tournament, the fourth-least in the tournament, compared to Australia’s 14.3 which is the fourth-most in the competition.
Battle-tested Gilas
If there is one thing going for Gilas, it is that they are already used to grind-out games, and the Australia match will be no exception. Gilasis coming off Justin Brownlee's heroics against Saudi Arabia and was on the losing end of close games against Chinese Taipei and New Zealand in the group stage. Meanwhile, Australia has breezed through the tournament, winning by an average margin of 25.67 points during the group stage. However, Gilas hasn’t faced a high-caliber team like Australia in this tournament.
Gilas must show NSD again
Stats-wise, Australia, to no one’s surprise, leads the Philippines in most of the statistical categories in the tournament. Odds are stacked against Gilas against the Boomers, who have been undefeated in 15 games since they joined the FIBA Asia Cup in 2017. At the end of the day, it is going to be the intangibles, including the Never Say Die mentality, that would bring Gilas to victory against a powerhouse team like the Boomers.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
