GILAS Pilipinas as well as 31 other teams will finally get to know their opponents in the group stage of the 2023 Fiba Basketball World Cup during the draw ceremony on Saturday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
The event is expected to be festive with international star Saweetie, and local talents Sarah Geronimo and Billy Crawford performing in the 7:30 p.m. event. Fiba Basketball World Cup global ambassador Luis Scola, Fiba players commission chairman Dirk Nowitzki, and Chinese great Yao Ming will also attend the event.
Focus, however, will be on the draw ceremony that will be determine what group each team will be playing during the first round.
Here are some of the things that you should know about the draw.
POTS ARE NOT THE GROUPS
Contrary to information that spread on social media several months ago, pots are not the groups. Teams were placed into different pots based on their Fiba rankings which was done primarily to spread out the teams as evenly as possible and prevent strong teams from being drawn into one group.
Being the main host, the Philippines was placed alongside world No. 1 Spain, second-ranked United States, and No. 3 Australia in Pot 1.
Here are the pots:
Pot 1: Philippines, Spain, USA, Australia
Pot 2: France, Serbia, Slovenia, Lithuania
Pot 3: Greece, Italy, Germany, Brazil
Pot 4: Canada, Venezuela, Montenegro, Puerto Rico
Pot 5: Iran, Dominican Republic, Finland, New Zealand
Pot 6: China, Latvia, Mexico, Georgia
Pot 7: Jordan, Japan, Angola, Cote d’Ivoire.
Pot 8: Lebanon, Egypt, South Sudan, Cape Verde
Teams that are in Pots 1, 3, 5, and 7 will be drawn into either Group A, C, E, or G, while those in Pots 2, 4, 6, and 8 will be either in Groups B, D, F, and H.
GILAS WON’T BE PLAYING VERSUS USA IN GROUP STAGE
Being the host country, the Philippines has already occupied one spot in Group A, and now waits on which team they will be battling in the group stage. That doesn’t include the United States, which is expected to bring NBA talents for the Fiba Basketball World Cup. Team USA is in Group C as the choice of the host country to have the Americans play their games in the Philippines.
GILAS WON’T BE BRACKETED WITH FELLOW ASIA TEAM
According to the rules of the draw, each group should only have teams that have one from Asia/Oceania, one from Africa, one from Americas, and at least one but a maximum of two from Europe. In the case of Gilas, the host country will not be playing against any Asia or Oceania country in the group stage. Instead, it could be up against either of the teams from Pots 3, 5, and 7 except for Iran and Jordan.
The same holds true to, for example, USA, which will not be grouped with Brazil, and Dominican Republic.
OTHER FACTS
Co-host Japan and Indonesia have chosen Slovenia and Canada to play in their respective countries. Slovenia has been assigned in Group F, while Canada has been slotted to Group H.
Japan will be playing in Group E.
Teams in Groups A and B will be played at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum except for the opening game of Gilas Pilipinas where it will be held at the Philippine Arena. Mall of Asia Arena will play host to the games of Groups C and D.
Okinawa Arena will be the site of the matches of Groups E and F, while the newly-built Indonesia Arena in Jakarta will be the venue of Groups G and H.
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