HANGZHOU – A win by Gilas Pilipinas over Jordan on Saturday will have the team securing an outright berth in the quarterfinals of the 19th Asian Games.
But a loss will mean going to a classification phase where it needs to win its crossover assignment to advance to the Final Eight.
Classification stage in Asiad basketball
So how does the classification stage work?
A total of 16 teams are entered in men’s basketball and divided into four groups with four teams each.
Group A includes Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, and United Arab Emirates, while defending champion China leads Group B along with Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, and Mongolia.
The Philippines is in Group C together with Jordan, Bahrain, and Thailand, and Group D has South Korea, Japan, Qatar, and Indonesia.
The teams that will top their respective groups will earn automatic berths in the quarterfinals, making the 5:30 p.m. game of Gilas against Jordan a must-win for the teams.
The next best two teams in each group meanwhile, will be relegated in the classification for the quarterfinals, meaning a total of eight teams are going to battle for the remaining four quarterfinal berths.
In such case, the No. 2 team in Group C takes on the No. 3 seed in Group D, and the third seeded team in Group C faces the second seed in Group D in a crossover format.
As things stand now, South Korea and Japan are tied for Group D with 2-0 slates, followed by Qatar and Indonesia, both with 0-2 records.
If Gilas bows to Jordan
Should disaster strike and Gilas loses to Jordan, it’s going to be the winner of the Qatar-Indonesia match which it will play in the classification.
Winning the classification means the national team will play the top team in Group A which is Iran.
If Gilas beats Jordan
Meanwhile, making the quarterfinals outright will have Gilas in collision with the winner between A2 (Saudi Arabia or Kazakhstan) vs B3 (Chinese Taipei or Hong Kong).
An automatic quarterfinals slot likewise, put Gilas on track for an early meeting with reigning gold medalist China in the semifinals, while going through classification will have South Korea waiting on its path deep into the playoffs.
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