The Philippines and Thailand seek finals slots in men’s basketball while Vietnam and Indonesia clash in a do-or-die match in the women’s class Monday in the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Thais, who topped Group B of the eliminations with a three game sweep, take on Vietnam at 3:45 p.m. while the Philippines, represented by Gilas Pilipinas, takes on Indonesia in the nightcap of a triple bill at 8:15.
Clashing in the other match at 6 p.m. are Indonesia and Malaysia, with the winner barging into the championship round of the women’s division.
Gilas on Saturday cruised past Myanmar 136-67 to set up a semis battle against the Indons, now handled by former Gilas coach Rajko Toroman.
Indonesia dumped Cambodia 100-71 to finish second in Group B and Toroman immediately looked forward to facing Gilas, the forerunner of which he founded.
Toroman said the Gilas Pilipinas squad under Tim Cone is better than the squad that went winless at the FIBA World Cup in China.
“They have chemistry, they have quality, they have a new coach,” Toroman said. “I don’t think the team in the World Cup had chemistry. Maybe they had more individual quality … with (Andray) Blatche, but when Blatche is not there, well, this team has special chemistry.”
The Serbian coach, who coached the original Gilas Pilipinas team from 2009 to 2011, watched the Philippines in action against Myanmar.