AFTER the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Gilas Pilipinas will resume its campaign in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers during the November window where coach Tim Cone braces for another severe test.
Gilas will play at home during the next FIBA international window, facing New Zealand's Tall Blacks on November 21, and Hong Kong on November 24 to cap off the year for the national team.
Both matches will be held at the Mall of Asia Arena.
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Gilas Pilipinas returns to the continental competitions after a semifinal finish in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, but Cone warns the opposition will be tough, especially New Zealand, which played well in its own bid to make it in Paris.
The Tall Blacks even won a game in the OQT against Croatia, 90-86, in Greece, and are at No. 21 in the Fiba rankings, even better by two spots than Georgia, a team Gilas lost to by two points during its own Olympic qualification bid.
“New Zealand, they are a top-ranked team in the world,” said Cone during a press conference by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) held at the Cignal office in Mandaluyong.
“New Zealand is really going to be a tough team for us in the FIBA Asia and we are looking forward to measuring up with them because they have handled us easily in the last few years playing against us,” said Cone.
In a statement, SBP president Al Panlilio emphasized that it is a necessity that Gilas improves following the semifinal finish in the OQT where it lost to Brazil in the semifinals, and in effect, falling two games short of a berth in Paris.
“We fell short but I am still very proud of the team,” said Panlilio. “We can compete with the top-ranked teams in the world but yes, we need to get better and get over the hump. We continue to learn from our losses and continue to improve.”
New Zealand has dominated Gilas in their head-to-head matches, winning the last three games by an average margin of 29.3 points.
The Philippines also played against New Zealand during the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament held in Manila in 2016, but lost, 89-80, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“We are a really looking forward to locking horns with them on an Asian level. That should be a really, really good fight coming in when they come in,” said Cone.
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“They are not a huge team in terms of a lot of 7-footers. But they are tall across the board. They are all 6-8, 6-9, their forwards are at that height. The guards are 6-5, 6-6. They are really even across the lines so they really cause a lot of problems. Historically, they have been a really, really tough team to match up to,” Cone added.
Gilas Pilipinas already faced Hong Kong during the FIBA Asia qualifiers, winning easily, 94-64, last February on the road.
“We are excited about playing two home games. I think that’s the thing that we are most excited about, to be able to put our team out there. I know we played out in Latvia, we played in Taiwan at home, we played Hong Kong away. But what thrills the guys most together is coming together and playing for our own fans,” said Cone.
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