THERE'S a reason why Jordan is among the leaders entering the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers.
Entering its match against Gilas Pilipinas, Jordan sports a 5-1 record, and will look to move closer to a World Cup spot in this window.
Here are the players to watch from the squad also known as the Falcons.
JALEN HARRIS
Most of Gilas’ focus on the defensive side is expected to be on Harris, who has shown that he can explode on offense at any given time. A second round draft pick by the Toronto Raptors in 2020, their naturalized player is averaging 27 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in these qualifiers.
Harris, who now plays for New Taipei Kings in the Taiwan domestic league, lit up the scoreboard in their November 30, 2025 game against Syria where he scored 42 points in a 100-48 victory.
READ: Cone braces for Jordan's Harris: 'He's their Justin Brownlee'
The previous window wasn’t as productive for the 6-foot-4 Harris after he had a qualifiers-low 18 points on 5-of-16 shooting from the field in their 67-49 loss to Iran last July 2, while also fouling out. He then wound up with 27 points in their 106-67 win over Iraq in their next game last July 5.
AHMED AL DWAIRI
Kai Sotto and the rest of the Gilas bigs will, at some point of the game, be pitted against 6-foot-10 Al Dwairi. The 33-year-old Turkish-Jordanian is averaging 12.2 points and 7.8 rebounds, and had his best outing of the qualifiers against Iran when he had 17 points and 11 rebounds. For Gilas to control the paint, they need to contain the former Euroleague champion for Fenerbache.
FREDDY IBRAHIM
A player for Jordan who is capable of doing it all is Ibrahim - also very much a familiar face for Gilas, having played against him during the World Cup 2023 qualifiers and the Asian Games. He has averages of 11.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 1.0 steals during these qualifiers.
One of the Jordanian-Canadian's best games of these qualifiers was against Syria last November 27 when he had 13 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals. He didn’t splurge offensively in the last July window, but contributed in other ways, averaging 5.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds.
AMIN ABU HAWWAS
The one-time Jordanian domestic league MVP is impacting Jordan on defense in the qualifiers, averaging 1.8 steals in four games. But don’t overlook his offense, as he had 22 points on 4-of-6 shooting from threes in their July 5 game against Iraq.
ABDULLAH OLAJUWON
His surname will surely draw eyeballs - and yes, he is the son of NBA great Hakeem Olajuwon. The 22-year-old Abdullah made his debut with the Jordanian national team during the FIBA Asia Cup 2025, a moment his father didn’t miss for anything, traveling to Jeddah just to see his son play.
The younger Olajuwon, a University of Detroit product, is averaging 6.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists for the Jordan in these qualifiers.
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