Gilas in early China duel

Gilas will face China in their final Group C game at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sept. 14 before as expected, they join six others in the quarterfinals two days later. It’ll be a rematch of the previous edition’s semifinal battle where Gilas beat China, 77-76 in front of a disappointed homecrowd in Hangzhou. China never lived that defeat down, particularly as it came on the heels of Gilas’ 96-75 win at the FIBA World Cup a month before. In the coming Asian Games, China gets a chance to avenge both setbacks and for sure, the Chinese will show up with guns blazing.

A 30-man Gilas pool has been named for Aichi-Nagoya and excluded from the 2023 lineup were Kevin Alas, Arvin Tolentino, Chris Ross, Japeth Aguilar and Marcio Lassiter. Holdovers are Chris Newsome, Scottie Thompson, June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez, Calvin Oftana, Ange Kouame and Justin Brownlee. The others on the list are Bennie Boatwright, Kai Sotto, Dwight Ramos, AJ Edu, Quentin Millora-Brown, Mike Phillips, Jamie Malonzo, Jerrick Ahanmisi, Don Trollano, RJ Abarrientos, Troy Rosario, Jordan Heading, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, Justine Baltazar, Justin Arana, Juan Gomez de Liaño, Adrian Nocum, Caelan Tiongson, Brandon Bates, Sedrick Barefield, Robert Bolick, Zavier Lucero and Jason Perkins.

The 2023 tournament featured 16 teams. This time, it’s down to 12. Group A is made up of Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. Group B is composed of Iran, Jordan, Chinese-Taipei and Qatar. Group C is comprised of China, Philippines, Bahrain and Kazakhstan. India was in the initial cast but dropped out with Indonesia taking its spot.

Gilas makes its debut against Bahrain on Sept. 11 then engages Kazakhstan on Sept. 12 before taking on China. The top two finishers of each group advance to the quarterfinals with the top two third placers. The four quarterfinal games will be played on Sept. 16 and the two semifinal contests on Sept. 18. The final and playoff for third will be on Sept. 20, the day after the Asian Games officially open.

The women’s competition will begin on Sept. 17 and end on Sept. 26. There are 11 countries in the distaff tournament with China, Indonesia and Thailand in Group A, Japan, Philippines, Kazakhstan and Hong Kong in Group B and South Korea, Chinese-Taipei, Mongolia and Malaysia in Group C. The Philippines opens against Kazakhstan on Sept. 17 then faces Hong Kong on Sept. 20 and Japan on Sept. 22.