GILAS Pilipinas is not the only team clinging to a sliver of hope of still making it outright to the Paris Olympics via the 2023 Fiba World Cup.
Jordan, led by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, is also hoping for a spot in next year’s Olympiad in France, although the Jordanians are running fourth among fellow countries in the continent as it stands.
Only the best-placed Asian team will automatically qualify for the Olympics.
At the end of the first round, here are the standings among the Asian teams in the World Cup. Point difference is the first tiebreaker between tied teams.
W-L Point difference
Japan 1-2 -28
Gilas 0-3 -23
Iran 0-3 -63
Jordan 0-3 -77
China 0-3 -80
Lebanon 0-3 -100
Eliminated from second-round contention, Jordan is relegated to the classification phase in Group N where the 33rd-ranked country in the world will take on 55th-ranked Egypt on Thursday and Mexico (31st) two days later.
“We do believe that Japan has a one step ahead of us, for sure. But we need to do our job. We need to try to win both games and if Japan wins the two games in the second round, we’re going to say: ‘Congrats. Have fun in the Olympics,’” Jordan coach Wesam Al-Sous said after his team’s 110-62 loss to Team USA on Wednesday that left them winless in three games in the first round.
READ: Jordan ends first round winless after 48-point loss to Team USA
“But I don’t want to regret that if Japan loses a game and we don’t do our job, then we only blame ourselves. So because of that, we’re definitely going to come up and fight to win both games,” he added.
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