Gilas Pilipinas has been drawn with Jordan, Thailand and Bahrain in the group stage of the men’s basketball tournament in the Hangzhou 19th Asian Games which is set to fire off on Sept. 23.
The Nationals are seen to be the favorites to top Group C with fellow World Cup team Jordan, bannered by former PBA import and naturalized player Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, posing the biggest threat in the preliminary round.
Gilas was coming off a stint in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup that saw them miss on a direct qualification to the 2024 Paris Olympics after losing its first four games before finally breaking through with a 96-75 victory over Asian rival China which proved to be enough to get an invite to the Olympic qualifying tournament.
The Filipinos went on to finish as third-best Asian team in the global showpiece while the Falcons wound up dead last in the tournament after losing all of their five games.
The clash between the two Asian powerhouses is set on Sept. 29 but Gilas will face Bahrain and Thailand first on Sept. 26 and 28, respectively.
Gilas is obviously one of the favorites in the competition but defending champion China is out to retain its throne especially after also finishing with a 1-4 record including the blowout loss against the Filipinos to place 29th in the World Cup.
Team Dragon is grouped with Lebanon, Chinese Taipei and Mongolia in Group B with the Cedars being their biggest threat after they wound up as the second-best Asian team in the World Cup with a 2-3 record.
Group A is composed of Iran, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates while the Paris Olympics-bound Japan takes on Indonesia, Qatar and fellow medal contender South Korea in Group D.
The Akatsuki finished with a 3-2 record in the global showpiece while Iran was the other winless Asian team in the tournament after ending up with a 0-5 slate.
However, Gilas, which finished at the eighth spot in the last edition of the Asiad in 2018 behind Jordan Clarkson and Rain or Shine-backed team, faces more problems this time around with the pending resignation of head coach Chot Reyes following the disappointing World Cup performance.
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) lineup for Asian Games headlined by Justin Brownlee and Ange Kouame together with World Cup veterans Kiefer Ravena, Scottie Thompson, Roger Pogoy, June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez, Japeth Aguilar and Jamie Malonzo.
Also on the roster are Chris Newsome, Calvin Oftana, Brandon Rosser, who were part of the original Gilas pool before it was cut to the Final 12.
Dwight Ramos, Rhenz Abando, Kai Sotto and naturalized player Jordan Clarkson as well as AJ Edu, are not on the Asian Games roster.
Ramos and Edu have confirmed to SPIN.ph that they are returning to their Japan B.League mother teams after the World Cup, like two other Japan-based members of the pool, Thirdy Ravena and Ray Parks.
On the other hand, Malonzo hurt his back after a bad fall in a World Cup game against Sudan and sat out Gilas' final match against China.