DESPITE moving three rungs higher after a surprise semifinals stint in the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament last month, Gilas Pilipinas still faces lots of work.
“Moving up in the FIBA rankings only means that Gilas and the SBP are moving in the right direction,” Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas President Al Panlilio said. “However, we cannot be satisfied with this as we want to keep moving forward.
“Hopefully, we make it back to the Olympics as well. Gilas has achieved a lot already in a short span but there’s more work to be done,” he added.
The Nationals rose to 34th place in the world rankings–proof of the gains achieved by the SBP under chairman emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan and Panlilio.
The world governing body for basketball released the updated rankings days after the closing ceremonies of the Paris Olympics.
The new list showed Gilas emerging as the fifth best Asian squad, leapfrogging Jordan, which dropped three spots to No. 35.
Gilas was the fourth top riser in the top 50 behind three Olympic teams in South Sudan (+11), silver medalist France (+5), and Japan (+5).
The Akatsuki Five remains as the top Asian quintet at No. 21, followed by Iran, Lebanon, and China claiming the 28th to the 30th spots.
The two FIBA Asia and Oceania crews, Australia and New Zealand, were at seventh and 22nd, respectively.
Had the Filipino cagers made it to the French capital it would have catapulted the Philippines to a higher place. But Gilas fell short against 12th-ranked Brazil.
Gilas’ 89-80 stunner over world No. 6 Latvians was nevertheless a historic victory over a top-ranked European team in front of its home crowd before a 94-96 loss to No. 23 Georgia.
