WITH the draw of the 2023 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers now over, the Philippines' next foes are now known.
Gilas is bracing for relatively favorable yet still dangerous matchups, one which will see it lock horns anew with a familiar rival.
Joining the Philippines in Group A are New Zealand, Korea, and India, with coach Tab Baldwin looking at these games as a chance to further develop his youthful crew.
After all, Gilas shouldn't be pressured enough as its seat is already secured in the Fiba World Cup, right?
Wrong. What better way for this youth-laden crew to prepare for the world's best than to utilize these games and continue to show maturity beyond their years heading into the global hoops conclave.
Before everything else, though, it's only apt to look back on the history books and take a glimpse on how Gilas has fared in its past matchups against these Group A foes.
New Zealand
The last time the two teams faced each other was during the 2016 Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament here in Manila.
Even with a home court advantage at a boisterous Mall of Asia Arena, Gilas suffered an 89-80 defeat against the Tall Blacks.
Baldwin was on his first tour-of-duty as the Gilas coach back then, but what he had was a team peppered with PBA superstars in Jayson Castro, Jeff Chan, June Mar Fajardo, Troy Rosario, and naturalized player Andray Blatche.
Gallant were the Filipinos' stand, but the Tall Blacks were just too much as brothers Tai and Corey Webster combined for 48 points to deny the hosts of an upset.
Also present for that team were Isaac Fotu, Thomas Abercrombie, and Shea Ili, as New Zealand denied the Philippines a chance to move on to the next round and its dreams of making it to the 2016 Rio Olympics.
This home-and-away series will make this the first time the two nations will meet in a Fiba Asia setting.
India
Here's a team Gilas should be wary of.
Favored to win its faceoff in the 2016 Fiba Asia Challenge in Tehran, the Philippines got caught sleeping and suffered a stunning 91-83 loss to India in the preliminary rounds.
Despite coming out hot off the gates, Gilas slowly fizzled out and was left with no response to the rampage led by Amjyot Singh, who fired 24 points and 18 rebounds, to lead India in delivering the stunner.
It was a forgettable showing from the Filipinos, who leaned on the likes of then-cadets Mac Belo, Ed Daquioag, Kevin Ferrer, Roger Pogoy, Mike Tolomia, and a still-green CJ Perez.
It turned out to be a precursor for the disaster that followed, with Gilas bowing out in the second round and only winning one of its five games in the trip.
Surely, Gilas would like to get one back at these fierce Indians.
Korea
Do we really need to expound on this?
It's a storied rivalry which has always leaned in favor of the Koreans.
This time, though, it's the Filipinos who have the upper hand, especially after the twinbill of victories the young Gilas crew had last June in the third window of the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers in Clark.
SJ Belangel buried the shot heard around the world, banking the desperation three that lifted the Philippines to a pulsating 81-78 win last June 16 -- ending an eight-year drought against our fierce rivals.
Four days later, Gilas were able to repeat the feat, taking the 82-77 win behind Dwight Ramos, Justine Baltazar, Kai Sotto, and naturalized player Ange Kouame.
It needs to be mentioned, though, that Korea also brought a youthful crew which was spearheaded by Lee Hyun-jung and Yeo Jun-seok, and was backstopped by naturalized center Ra Gun-A (Ricardo Ratliffe).
A victory is still a victory, and it allowed the Philippines to stay perfect at home against the Koreans, improving to 8-0 in our home floor, and more importantly, set this program on the right path heading into the 2023 Fiba World Cup.
Who knew that roughly five months later, another chapter in this well-documented rivalry is set to be written again?
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