THE TALL Blacks and Gilas Pilipinas will wrap up their FIBA Asia Cup 2025 qualifiers against each other on Sunday and New Zealand coach Judd Flavell expects nothing less than the same intensity from their previous match-up last November.
New Zealand and the Philippines face off on Sunday to determine the top seed in Group B of the qualifiers. They share 4-1 win-loss records and have already secured a place in the tournament proper to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in August.
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Gilas coach Tim Cone already expressed that they are out for the best finish possible in the qualifiers, and the mindset is the same for the Tall Blacks.
“We’ve already qualified for Asia Cup, but we’re aiming to get top seed so that we can place ourselves or position ourselves with the best chance to get ourselves to the gold-medal match,” said Flavell in a recent interview.
“So what that requires is us beating Philippines here (in New Zealand).”
Gilas' 93-89 win at the Mall of Asia Arena was nothing less than momentous since it marked the first time that a Philippine team beat the No. 22 ranked squad in the world. The visitors hope to repeat that feat on Sunday at the Spark Arena in Auckland.
Flavell has high regard for the Philippine team especially since Gilas is banking on the same formula as the Tall Blacks of building a core group of players for the succeeding FIBA windows.
“We had a close battle with them over in Manila, and such a competitive game, and nothing between both teams, that this will be exactly the same. Both teams looking at the same situation,” said Flavell.
“They are a country, I think, that is really similar to us, building on chemistry, cohesion, and that’s what we're trying to do as well,” Flavell said.
Flavell also recognizes that despite playing at home, he expects Filipinos will be part of the crowd to to support Gilas.
“The makeup of the crowd numbers, I’m sure, there’s going to be many Filipinos there, but I’m sure the atmosphere is going to be crazy. It's going to be amazing. And as a competitor, I think we’re all looking forward to it,” said Flavell.
The two squads go into the match with contrasting results in Group B. Gilas lost to host Chinese Taipei, 91-84, while New Zealand won at Hong Kong, 92-51.
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