Nationals play Croatia 5 in FIBA WC opener: Gilas returns to the Worlds

SEVILLE, Spain – While the rest of the world believe they have a decent shot at toppling the mighty but depleted USA in the World Cup, Gilas Pilipinas simply lives the dream to be here.

 The Filipinos have been here before although it took 36 years to make it back to this conclave of the best in world basketball.

They were given two chances to advance in the cutthroat knockout stage since clinching a berth in the Fiba Asia Championship during those tumultuous 11 days in August 2013.

Their chances as national coach Chot Reyes aptly described are slim and none beginning with Croatia which they play at 6:30 tonight (Manila time) in Group B competition in the four-group championship.

The other teams in the group are Argentina, Greece, Puerto Rico and Senegal.

They were given the logistics and resources to prepare for this world war – a month-long training criss-crossing Europe for tune-up games and getting beaten almost in every game. To the end, their chances remain slim and none.

There were some hopes that they could pull off some surprises with a win over Senegal and over one of the other teams and advance in the tournament. But that should be gravy for what Gilas Pilipinas has gone through to be here.

They bucked the odds against the best in Asia to finally reach this world stage – a feat that has become a source of pride and joy for the nation whose passion for the game is unparalleled this side of the globe.

Forget slim and none. Forget the fortnight of competition.

For being here is victory in itself.

Meanwhile, host Spain and the rest of the field are raring to knock off the mighty United States, which was clearly the better team in the 2012 Olympics when LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant and company knocked off Spain in the final in London.

But in this year’s World Cup, Spain brings back almost its entire team and is dying to get some revenge against an undermanned US team.

None of that Olympic trio is back for the Americans, who have not lost in their runs to the titles at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics and the 2010 World Championship.

James and Bryant were not expected to play in Spain but the Oklahoma City superstar Durant pulled out of the team just three weeks before the start, citing exhaustion.

In addition to Paul George – who like Durant was expected to start for the Americans in Spain until the Indiana Pacers star broke his leg – US coach Mike Krzyzewski also has seen stars like Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard all withdraw for a variety of reasons.

While Krzyzewski still has great players like Derrick Rose, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, it’s a US team that is much weaker than past squads.

And Spain has a motivated group which includes brothers Pau and Marc Gasol as well as fellow NBA stalwarts Serge Ibaka, Jose Calderon and Ricky Rubio, not to mention Euro League stars Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodriguez, Sergio Llull and an ageing but still dangerous Juan Carlos Navarro.

Because of the format of the tournament, Spain and the United States cannot meet until the final – or the third place game – both of which will take place in Madrid.

The tournament runs till Sept. 14.

Spain is drawn into Group A in Granada which also includes 2013 European champions France, Serbia, Brazil, Iran and Egypt – with the teams playing each other in round robin fashion of five games in six days.

The top four teams in each of the four groups advance to the Round of 16.

In the knock-out stages in Madrid, Group A’s teams will face the four top sides from Group B, which has Argentina, Croatia, Greece, Philippines, Puerto Rico and Senegal in Sevilla.