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Less than a month after training, a fully amateur Gilas Pilipinas begins his campaign in the second window of the 2021 FIBA Asian Cup qualifiers when the Filipinos take on Thailand on Friday in a bubble in Manama, Bahrain.
This is the first of two games between the Philippines and Thailand after FIBA approved the final schedule for the restart of the qualifying tournament after months of delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Veteran mentor Jong Uichico, who helped the national team win gold medals twice at the Southeast Asian Games in 2015 and 2017, was tasked with making the decisions for the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).
As in said biennial meeting, Uichico sees this with the same as a difficult task for the Filipinos considering the quality of the opponent they will face and the preparation time they had to prepare.
“They are an experienced and cohesive team. As far as their presented lineup goes, they don’t have a naturalized player, ”said Uichico, a nine-time PBA champion coach.
The match between the Philippines and Thailand is from 4 pm to 9 pm Manila time.
Thailand, who won the silver medal at last year’s SEA Games here behind the professional Gilas team led by Tim Cone, will parade with a team of professionals against the Nationals in the Bahrain bubble.
Although the 10-man Thai list does not include Tyler Lamb, who dressed for UCLA and Long Beach State in the US NCAA, Uichico said he expects a close match against Thailand considering the opposing team’s experience playing in international tournaments. .
The national team, on the other hand, is made up of unconditional collegiate members.
A total of 15 players are in Bahrain, as naturalized prospect Angelo Kouame of Côte d’Ivoire chose to stay in the country.
Uichico said the coaching staff, which also includes Gilas Pilipinas men’s basketball project director Tab Baldwin and new member Boyet Fernández, has yet to name the 12 finalists.
“We are still finalizing the 12 finalists of the national team for the playoffs,” said Uichico, who has 24 hours before the notice to present the official roster, or during the coaches meeting.
Part of the 15-man group on the national team are PBA draft rookie picks Isaac Go, brothers Matt and Mike Nieto, Rey Suerte and Allyn Bulanadi, whom Uichico said he has doubts due to injury.
They are joined by the unconditional collegiate Kobe Paras, Calvin Oftana, Justin Baltazar, Kenmark Carino, Dave Ildefonso, Will Navarro, Jaydee Tungcab and the brothers Juan and Javi Gómez de Liano.
The second game of the national team against Thailand is on Monday.
South Korea, which chose not to join due to COVID-19, leads Pool A with a 2-0 record, followed by the Philippines 1-0 after beating Indonesia 100-70 in Jakarta last February. Thailand has a 0-1 card and Indonesia 0-2.
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