SO far no Asian team has registered a win in the FIBA World Cup.
Five games involving Asian teams had been blowouts, with Gilas Pilipinas the only one which nearly pulled off an upset against Karl-Anthony Towns and the Dominican Republic, 87-81, in Friday’s opener of basketball’s most prestigious tournament.
The rest including China, the highest ranked team in the region at No. 27, had all been at the wrong end of a blowout in their respective groups.
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The Dragons lost to Bogdan Bogdanovic and Serbia, 105-63; Iran lost by a mile to Brazil, 100-59, Lebanon was routed by Latvia, 109-70, Jordan and naturalized player Rondae Hollis Jefferson, lost to Greece, 92-71, and co-host Japan fell to Germany, 81-63.
Outside of Gilas, Asian teams lost by an average of 32.2 points.
Of course, other than advancing to the second round of the group phase and further deep into the tournament, also at stake in the World Cup are tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
One slot each is at stake for Asia, Africa, and Oceania, and two apiece for Americas and Europe.
The race for the Olympic berth is certainly not lost on all 32 teams seeing action, including Gilas Pilipinas.
“It’s important that our other Asian competitors are in tough groups because the best Asian team is the one which goes to the Olympics,” said Philippine coach Chot Reyes.
“As much as I was looking at our group, I was looking at what the teams the other Asian teams drew as well. That’s going to determine who is going to be the best-placed Asian team. Our objective here is to get to the Olympics in 2024. That’s the goal, that’s the dream.”
The Philippines is in Group A with world No. 10 Italy, Dominican Republic, and Angola, China occupies Group B with Serbia, Puerto Rico, and South Sudan, while Jordan is in the tough Group C with the US, Greece, and New Zealand.
In Okinawa, Japan is with Germany, Finland, and Australia in Group E, while in Jakarta Iran is in Group G with Brazil, Ivory Coast, and defending champion Spain, and Lebanon completes Group H with Latvia, and top contenders France and Canada.
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