PAST IS PAST but Gilas Pilipinas doesn’t expect Jordan and Iran to easily forget the defeats the Nationals inflicted on them on their way to the 2022 Asian Games (Asiad) gold medal.
Anything that could fire them up further for the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers’ (WCQ) fourth window duels, the Falcons and Team Melli will surely use against the Filipinos, their conquerors in the finals (70-60) and quarterfinals (84-83) of the Hangzhou Asiad, respectively.
“It’s definitely going to be a challenge,” said Chris Newsome ahead of the Gilas’ back-to-back tests versus Jordan on Friday and Iran on Sunday in the kickoff of the WCQ’s second-round hostilities at the MOA Arena.
Mr. Newsome, Scottie Thompson, June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez are the only remnants of that Asian Games-winning crew. For Jordan, aces Freddy Ibrahim and Ahmad Al-Dwairi are back for the grudge match against Gilas.
“I think they still remember that (Asiad battle). This is going to be a completely new team, though, with about three players from the Jordan team that we played against. However, that same hunger is going to be there for them, especially coming to the Philippines,” said Mr. Newsome.
“They’re going to do their best to try to upset us here. So for us, it’s just about the same focus on the task at hand. Regardless of who we play, whoever is in their lineup, we want to go out there and play hard and compete and most importantly just get the win.”
One major element of that title run in the Asiad — Justin Brownlee — is out of the equation for this homestand, though, as he deals with health issues.
But the good news is, Kai Sotto, the 7-foot-3 slotman who missed out that celebrated campaign in Hangzhou, is in the fold to lead the fight for the hosts.
“With Kai here and then we got June Mar and AJ, we feel we have the requisite size to be successful in this window,” said coach Tim Cone.
The Nationals, who are running fifth in Group E with eight points on a 2-4 win-loss card, also have their sixth man at the MOA Arena to count on.
“It’s do or die and we’re really fortunate that it’s here in Manila, that we’re playing here playing in front of a home crowd,” said Mr. Cone. “We’re hoping that they come and everybody shows up.” — Olmin Leyba