Now that we are just less than 100 days before the FIBA Asia Cup in Saudi Arabia, can Gilas Pilipinas win it all and survive in Group D?
Brandon Gilbeck and Mohammad Gadiaga of Chinese Taipei
To start the last window of the previous FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, Gilas was surprised to see 2 new players of Chinese Taipei which are Brandon Gilbeck and Mohammad Gadiaga.
This move proved to be effective as Taipei won against Gilas last February 20 2025.
Gilbeck is a solid big man for his squad, standing at 6-foot-11 and is easily able to power his way in the paint. Collecting rebounds, putting up those put back misses as well as powering his way to the basket.
He is the traditional big that the Chinese Taipei squad has been missing for the last few years.
Aside from playing against the Philippines, he also played versus Hong Kong, New Zealand, Guam and Thailand. In these games, he averaged 11.2 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.3 blocks and a steal.
The other naturalized player for Chinese Taipei is their guard, Mohammand Gadiaga. He was also the main reason why Gilas lost when they met last February.
He played the same amount of games as Gilbeck as Gadiaga’s role focused on perimeter shooting, playmaking, in transition offense and most importantly, three point shooting.
This 27 year old guard averaged 16.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists and almost a steal per ball game.
If Gilas wants to beat this Chinese Taipei team, their defense must be highly focused on stopping these duo. Though it will undoubtedly be a question if AJ Edu, June Mar Fajardo and possibly Japeth Aguilar can somehow limit Gilbeck in the paint considering how he just bullied them in their last meeting.
While Chris Newsome, Gilas’ defensive anchor will have a much longer time to prepare in trying to stop Gadiaga come August.
The Entire Tall Blacks
It’s really hard to determine the “main star” for this New Zealand squad as anyone from their team can become the best player of any game they’ll play.
In my opinion, through the statistical averages in the games they’ve played, New Zealand’s Taylor Britt, Corey Webster, Tom Vodanovich, Sam Waardenburg and Jordan Ngatai are the ones that have dominated the entire FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.
It’s also worth noting that these players may actually be all present in the FIBA Asia Cup.
Britt is an obvious choice as he is the only player out of the five I have mentioned that played in all 6 games in the Qualifiers. He averaged 6.7 points, 3.2 boards, a surprising 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals.
For Webster, the offensive juggernaut guard of the Tall Blacks, he averaged 16 points, shot 61.5% from the rainbow country, 3 assists and a steal per outing in the 3 games he played.
The 6-foot-7 forward Tom Vodonavich, who interestingly played as an import in the PBA for the Converge FiberXers a couple of years ago is also a headache for Gilas. In 3 games, he averaged 15.3 points, 4.3 boards and was decent in the 3-point area at 53%.
Waardenburg, the center of the Tall Blacks who was a perfect match against the Gilas front court, averaged 12.3 points, 7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and a block in all of the 3 games he played.
To round it all up, Jordan Ngatai, the 6-foot-5 forward for the Tall Blacks was an effective scorer both inside and outside as well as being a monster in the defensive end. After 3 games, he averaged 12 points, 3.3 boards, 1.7 steals and a block. He also shot very well from the three point arc with 42.9%.
New Zealand is a great team all in all and it will take the combined efforts of the entire Gilas squad in order to defeat them. They have once beaten them before, so the question would be if they can do it once more.
But for that to happen, Gilas must play “perfect style” of basketball to come out victorious.
Iraq’s Trio of Zewki, Mayfield and Al-Khafaji
Perhaps the most mysterious team of all that Gilas will play in Group D is this Iraq team.
I was able to find out that they are a team that is fond of making plays underneath the basket as their 3PT% in the Qualifiers was the lowest among the other 24 teams. They are also #11 in terms of the most turnovers made per contest.
Though Gilas may exploit those weaknesses when they face each other, it won’t be that easy as this team is known for their physicality in the shaded area along with their superstar guards.
Murad Zewki is “Mr. Do It All” for his team. Despite being only 6-foot-3, he averaged 4.6 rebounds. He also had 2.6 assists, one steal and scored 7.3 points in 8 games.
Tagging along with him is Iraq’s naturalized player, Demario Mayfield. This guard is also like Zewki as after 8 games, he was the leading scorer with 18.5 points. Coming along with that are grabbing 7.5 rebounds as a 6-foot-3 guard, 7.1 assists and 1.4 steals.
Mohammed Al-Khafaji is the 6-foot-10 big man of this Iraq team. He averaged 10.8 points and only 3.5 rebounds. Despite being that tall, he isn’t much of a rebounder but he makes it up on the offensive end.
If the guards of Gilas, other than Chris Newsome, can improve their defensive schemes in limiting both Zewki and Mayfield, the Philippines can very much put this team to sleep early in the ball game.
This team likes to turn the ball over, so if Gilas can stop disrupt their transition plays and offensive half court execution, Philippines will have an advantage.
Asia’s Best
This is exactly how the Asia Cup should be, fighting against the best teams in Asia.
