Gilas unfazed by tough draw

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines was relegated to what had to be the toughest bracket in the first round of the FIBA 2027 World Cup Asia qualifiers but Gilas assistant coach Sean Chambers, who attended Tuesday’s draw in Doha, said that while the mission to advance is daunting, it’s doable.

Fate brought the Philippines to Group A with Australia, New Zealand and Guam. In Group B are Japan, China, South Korea and Chinese-Taipei while Iran, Jordan, Syria and Iraq are in Group C. Comprising Group D are Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, India and Qatar. There are six qualifying windows starting on Nov. 24-Dec. 3.  The 16 teams will play a double round robin home-and-away format in the first round. Then, the top three placers of each group move to the second round with the 12 survivors split into two batches to play six more games. The top three finishers in the two batches advance to the World Cup plus the winner of a playoff between the fourth placers of each group. Seven tickets are allocated for Asia-Oceania, excluding host Qatar which has an automatic berth.

“There is no easy route to the FIBA World Cup,” said Chambers. “We have to play great. I don’t think we want to run from any team. The next windows, we’re going to be extremely comfortable with New Zealand which is huge for our mindset. We know Australia is going to be very good. I don’t want to discredit any team. At the end of the day, we’re going to have to beat good teams. For us to be a competitor at the world stage, we must continue to prove we belong in the conversation. We were either going to play Japan, China or Chinese-Taipei. There’s no easy game there.”

If and when Gilas survives the first round, it will join Group C survivors, likely to be Iran, Jordan and Syria, in the second round. First round results will be carried over for the final tally.

“The Philippines is well-respected around the world as a basketball program on the rise,” said Chambers. “Filipino basketball fans are considered the best fans in the world. I sat next to Poland and New Zealand during the draw and they were blown away by the Filipino turnout. All the country representatives were hoping to play us. They know Filipino fans will show up in full support.” Chambers is attending FIBA workshops in Doha then will proceed to the US to attend his daughter’s college graduation at Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday. He returns to Manila on Monday.