SEVILLE, Spain -- Sinabi kahapon ni Gilas coach Chot Reyes na walang imposible sa basketball at napatunayan na ito ng mga underdog teams sa iba’t ibang zone qualifiers.
“Egypt was a surprise qualifier in FIBA Africa and Finland came from nowhere to beat several giants in FIBA Eurobasket last year,†wika ni Reyes sa pagiging dehado ng Gilas Pilipinas sa 2014 FIBA World Cup.
“Let’s not forget how Gilas defied the odds to finish second in FIBA-Asia. It’s no longer surprising for surprises to come in international basketball competitions. Going back to the 2002 World Cup, New Zealand placed a surprising fifth. Who knows? Maybe, the Philippines will be the surprise of this year’s World Cup.â€
Ayon kay Reyes, dalawang panalo ang kakaila-nganin ng Gilas sa preliminaries para makaabante sa round-of-16.
Sa draw noong Lunes, nakasama ang Pilipinas sa Group B na kinabibilangan ng Argentina, Croatia, Greece, Puerto Rico at Senegal.
Ang Group B ang sinasabing ikalawang pinaka-mabigat na grupo sa apat na brackets sa likod ng Group A na binubuo ng Spain, Serbia, France, Brazil, Egypt at Iran. Nasa Group D ang Slovenia, Lithuania, Angola, Korea, Mexico at Australia at nasa Group C ang US, Dominican Republic, Turkey, USA, Finland, New Zealand at Ukraine.
“The draw could’ve been better for us but we can’t complain because it could’ve been worse,†wika ni Reyes. “Luckily, we didn’t end up in Group A. We’re excited to play in Seville where we hope to bring over at least 1,000 Filipino fans. We were informed that our Ambassador (Carlos Salinas) is planning to organize activities to promote our participation.â€
“This is a huge event for Philippine basketball as it’s our first World Cup appearance as a qualifier since 1974. We hosted in 1978 and were seeded into the final eight so technically, we didn’t qualify for the tournament,†dagdag pa nito.
Bumiyahe si Reyes, kasama sina team manager Aboy Castro at logistics director Andrew Teh, dito mula sa Barcelona kung saan idinaos ang draw.