Familiar foes for Gilas in the FIBA World Cup group stage.
There’s a reason why most pundits and fans think Gilas Pilipinas would pick up a win or two in the FIBA World Cup group stage.
After the draw on Saturday, Gilas found itself in Group A with familiar foes in Italy, Angola, and Dominican Republic in the upcoming event Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas chairman emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan dubbed as the “new Thrilla in Manila.”
While the two of them drubbed the Filipinos by a huge margin in separate competitions, Gilas was a Kiefer Ravena three-pointer shy from extending, and perhaps winning, the match against the other one in the last edition of the quadrennial meet in Foshan, China.
Here’s a look back on the national team’s previous encounters with the aforementioned countries:
Italy
In 2014, the Philippines returned to the world stage and caught the best teams in the world off guard. While Gilas put up a fight and at some point put themselves in a position to win against Argentina, Croatia, and Puerto Rico, they went home with only a single victory at the expense of Senegal.
In 2019, unfortunately, there were no longer surprises.
Led by Danilo Gallinari and Marco Belinelli, Italy played the right way and took a 37-8 lead after the opening quarter which it never relinquished. Italy went on to drub Gilas, 108-62.
Cjay Perez and naturalized Filipino Andray Blatche combined for 30 points, but the Filipinos just couldn’t find a riposte against the crisp ball movement and hot shooting of the Azzurri, who made 15-of-31 from the three-point area.
It was an eye-opener as far as disparity between the level of play in Europe and the Philippines was concerned. It showed the coach Yeng Guiao-led Gilas how the game should be played.
Dominican Republic
It’s the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade. The Gilas Cadets were coming off an impressive showing against host Serbia, pushing the Boban Marjanovic-led team to its limits.
Unfortunately, the basketball gods thought it was a little bit too much to let the youthful crew led by Kai Sotto, Jordan Heading, and Ange Kouame pull the rug from under the world no. 5 team. Gilas lost, 83-76.
From that game, it looked like the young guns didn’t have enough gas to beat Dominican Republic the following match. Behind Victor Liz and Gelvis Solano, the Dominicana shifted into high gear in the second half, beginning with a 25-10 third quarter outburst, and Gilas just couldn’t keep up.
It was a learning curve for the Gilas Cadets, who turned the ball over 26 times in the loss that ended what started out as a promising OQT campaign.
Angola
Unlike Charles Barkley, the Philippines knew a thing or two about Angola after their thrilling match in the 2019 edition of the conclave among the best basketball countries in the world.
In fact, Gilas almost had that game in the bag. Ravena missed a heave from beyond the arc as time expired in overtime and Angola escaped with the 84-81 dub.
This put to waste Blatche’s 23-point and 12-rebound effort. Perez and Robert Bolick, the youngest cagers in the fold, had 17 and 10 points, respectively.
This experience, however, could fuel Gilas when they meet Angola again, this time on the Filipinos' own turf.