Wanted: A group stage win and more.
Gilas Pilipinas is set to make a third straight appearance in the FIBA World Cup. And this time, there's more at stake beyond home court pride, beyond moral victories, and beyond learning experiences.
While getting the championship is a long shot for the Philippines, Filipinos are looking for at least an improvement from 2014 and 2019, and that is to break out of the group stage.
There's another opportunity up for grabs—the qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Philippines at the Olympics
Historically, the Philippines is no stranger to Olympic basketball with seven appearances. But its heyday is long gone, having finished at 13th place in the 1972 Munich Summer Games.
The Filipinos' best performance came in their debut game at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, beating Estonia before falling to the United States in the quarterfinals. The Philippines then defeated Italy and Uruguay to take fifth place.
Punching a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics
Compared to the FIBA World Cup, which offers places for 32 squads, the Olympics will only have 12 slots available. One is already allotted for the 2024 host country, France.
Seven more spots are up for grabs in the FIBA World Cup: two for the Americas, two for Europe, and one each from Africa, Asia, and Oceania. These will be determined by the final official classification at the end of the tournament.
In the upcoming competition to be held in Metro Manila and Bulacan, six hail from Asia: the Philippines, China, Jordan, Japan, Iran, and Lebanon.The Asian team with the best finish will claim that lone outright Olympic spot.
The Philippines would have to, at least, break out of the group stage in order to see a window of opportunity for the Olympics.
And the Filipinos have only done that twice in history.
Technically, the best finish was in the 1954 Brazil tournament, beating Paraguay in the group stage before playing a round robin finals to finish third.
In the 1978 FIBA World Cup, which was held in the Philippines, the Filipinos did not participate in the group stage and only played in the semifinals by virtue of being the host nation.
The FIBA World Cup is Plan A. Is there a Plan B?
By the end of the Philippines-hosted hoops summit, eight of the 12 Olympic slots will have been filled. If Chot Reyes and his wards fail to snag the Asian Olympic slot, there's an alternative path towards Paris—the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQT).
Take note that Gilas can never throw in the towel in the FIBA World Cup at any point. A strong performance, even if it results to losses, is needed as the final FIBA World Cup rankings will play a major role in determining which 24 squads will get the invitation to the OQT.
So, who makes it to the 24?
Three are the FIBA World Cup's best-placed teams from Africa, Americas, and Asia which have not directly qualified for the Olympics.
16 will come from the next best-placed teams, still in the FIBA World Cup.
Five, meanwhile, will come from the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournaments.
Put simply, Gilas must avoid being in the cellar of the final rankings to get an OQT slot. Winning in the OQT is another layer of challenge, as the 24 invited teams will fight for only four remaining Olympic slots.
The Philippines has tasted that shot at the Olympics before, after playing in the 2020 FIBA OQT. While Gilas Pilipinas lost those games, the young squad under then-coach Tab Baldwin very nearly upset Serbia before bowing to the Dominican Republic.
That experience by Dwight Ramos, Kai Sotto, and Ange Kouame could prove very valuable for the current squad as they face the Caribbean country once again in Group A of the FIBA World Cup this August 25.
(GM)