Make no mistake about it: Gilas Pilipinas is moving on. Mathematically and historically, the Tim Cone-led national team has punched its ticket to the Second Round of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, alongside second-window tormentors Australia and New Zealand.
However, anyone who knows hoops will know that Gilas Pilipinas qualified in part because the other member of Group A is Guam, which has made strides over the past few months but is hardly a threat—at least not yet. Gilas beat Guam rather handily, and for a nation so invested in basketball, that’s not necessarily an achievement. It was the minimum requirement. But the goal is not to simply advance to the second round. The goal is to be best positioned in the next phase of the qualifiers.
After losing a heartbreaker to New Zealand and via blowout to Australia, it’s safe to say Gilas didn’t meet that goal.
Can Gilas Pilipinas Still Make the FIBA World Cup?
The short answer is yes. That holds true even if Gilas Pilipinas loses its last two games—against New Zealand and Australia on the road—of the first round.
With the national team’s spot in the Second Round already secured, the ultimate goal now is to finish in the top three of Group E—the new group formed by the top three finishers of Group A, Gilas’ group, and Group C, which consists of Jordan, Iran, Iraq, and Syria.
At this point, it might be a foregone conclusion that Australia will finish at no. 1 since the records will carry over to the Second Round and the Boomers are already 4-0 (and are looking unbeatable). That will leave Gilas Pilipinas, New Zealand, Jordan, Iran, and either Syria or Iraq vying for the last two World Cup spots from Group E.
Again, assuming the worst, Gilas Pilipinas could enter the Second Round with a 2-4 record. In such a scenario, the nationals will have little to no margin for error and will likely have to sweep their Group C counterparts—or go 5-1 at the least to secure a finish with one of the three top records in Group E.
Put simply, Gilas Pilipinas shot itself in the foot by going 0-2 in this home stand. But it doesn’t mean the FIBA World Cup dream is dead just yet. It just got a whole lot tougher.
