FAMILIAR foes, different results.
That’s what Gilas Pilipinas wants when it sees action in the FIBA Asia Cup in August in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The Philippines was grouped with New Zealand and Chinese Taipei—the Nationals’ previous foes in the qualifiers—after the drawing of lots last Tuesday night in Jeddah.
Joining the three squads in Group D is Iraq.
Gilas, the Tall Blacks, and the Chinese tangled along with Hong Kong in Group B during the qualifiers.
The Kiwis and Gilas wound up as the top two quintets in the group and clinched outright berths to the main draw of the 16-team field.
Chinese Taipei still needed to go through the final qualifiers to bag a berth in the August 5-17 tourney known formerly as the ABC Championship and FIBA Asia Championship.
Australia, Japan, and China bannered their respective brackets.
The Boomers are with South Korea, Lebanon, and Qatar in Group A in what could be the toughest group in the meet.
The Akatsuki Five were slotted in Group B together with Syria, Iran, and Guam, which has San Miguel Beer guard Jericho Cruz.
China, India, the host country, and Jordan spearheaded by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, are bunched in Group C.
Teams that will top their respective groups will earn outright quarterfinal slots, while the second and third sides to finish in each group will go through a crossover play-in to make it to the next round.
The charges of National coach Tim Cone split their head-to-head battles with New Zealand and Chinese Taipei in the qualifiers after winning the first two, including a historic 93-89 victory over the Tall Blacks at the Mall of Asia Arena last November and a 106-53 whipping of the Chinese early last year.
But the Filipino cagers absorbed two straight losses in the third and final window of the qualifiers to Chinese Taipei 84-91 and New Zealand 70-87.
Gilas ended with a 4-2 record, good enough to advance to the Asia Cup, where inconsistent play—and the absence of 7-foot-3 prized center Kai Sotto and the uncertainty of naturalized star Justin Brownlee—could spell the big difference in its campaign.
