GILAS Pilipinas begins its classification round campaign on Thursday night when it faces South Sudan in the 2023 Fiba Basketball World Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Gametime is at 8 p.m. with the Philippines still in search for a win in the World Cup that it is co-hosting.
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The Philippines needs a win in order to stay in contention in the battle of Asian teams for a berth in the Paris Olympics. A Gilas defeat to South Sudan and a win by Japan over Venezuela will dash the Philppines' bid for the Olympic spot.
Gilas is looking to stay positive after losing all three games in the group stage including a 90-82 defeat against Italy that bounced them out of the picture in the second round.
Reyes said Gilas put together a solid showing against Italy but the world No. 10 was just too much for them.
“We have showed that we can compete and lead against these top teams. We just not able to put an entire team together,” said Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes.
“We played much better in terms of assists, fewest turnovers, we shot the ball well, we shot the three-point shot pretty well. We weren’t outrebounded. Can’t complain. Jordan is the tip of the spear,” said Reyes.
Unlike Gilas, South Sudan already has one win on the board, beating China, 89-69, in its first-ever victory in the World Cup. Under the leadership of federation president and former NBA player Luol Deng, South Sudan made it to the World Cup by winning all but one in their 12 matches in the qualifiers.
South Sudan is being led by Chicago Bulls-bound guard Carlik Jones, who is averaging 19.7 points during the group stage.
South Sudan is also chasing an Olympic berth for Africa with Angola, Egypt, Cape Verde, and Ivory Coast so a need over Gilas Pilipinas would be pivotal for that chance.
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