PATTAYA, Thailand – Thailand seeks to win its first-ever Southeast Asian Games men's basketball gold medal on Friday night when it faces Gilas Pilipinas on its home floor at the Nimibutr Stadium in Bangkok.
The Thais are hungry for a title. They haven't come close to a basketball gold meal since finishing runner-up to the Philippines in the 2019 edition in Manila.
READ Thai star Tyler Lamb claims SEAG host making 'everybody else weaker'
However, Thailand has been making progress with its basketball program, having missed the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 by just a single win during the qualifiers.
Several players from that FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers are in the SEA Games roster led Freddie Lish, who averaged 17.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.5 steals during the qualifiers.
Lish is 37 years old and played US NCAA Division I basketball at South Alabama.
Moses Morgan is also a player to watch for Thailand after he averaged 12.6 points and 5.4 rebounds in the Asia Cup qualifiers.
Gilas Pilipinas will also need to handle its big man Chanatip Jakrawan. He averaged 9.8 points and 8.2 rebounds for Thailand in five games during the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
Not playing for Thailand in the SEA Games, however, is Martin Breunig, a German-Thai player who played four of the eight games of Thailand in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers, as well as Tyler Lamb.
Breunig averaged 15.3 points and 10 rebounds during that campaign. He plays for the Hamburg Towers in the German Bundesliga.
Other players that could pose problems include Pongsakorn Jaimsawad, Emmanuel Ejesu, and Nakorn Jaisanuk.
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