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MANILA, Philippines – Nine months after an exciting start, Gilas Pilipinas will resume his campaign in the 2021 Fiba Cup Asia Qualifiers on Friday against Thailand in a bubble environment in Manama, Bahrain.
The Filipinos are coming off a 100-70 beating of Indonesia on February 23 in Jakarta and hope to pick up where they left off.
Despite being the favorite to win, Gilas cannot afford to lower his guard against the Thais, who remained brave in a 93-86 loss to South Korea in the first qualifying window. Korea pulled out of the next window due to health problems caused by the pandemic.
Thai-American guard Tyler Lamb will be a marked man against Gilas.
The Philippines, which play Thailand twice and the second match will take place on November 30, has a young group of players led by Kobe Paras, Angelo Kouame and Dave Ildefonso in the absence of PBA players.
Veteran coach Jong Uichico will make the decisions for the Philippine national team, which will also feature brothers Javi and Juan Gómez de Liaño, Justine Baltazar, Calvin Oftana, Dwight Ramos, Jaydee Tungcab, Will Navarro and Kenmark Cariño.
The PBA recruits selected in last year’s special draft in Mike and Matt Nieto, Rey Suerte, Isaac Go and Allyn Bulanadi, who are currently loaned to the national team, are also part of the second window group.
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