August 29 ------ FOLLOWING Sunday's deflating loss to Angola, Chot Reyes knows that Gilas Pilipinas' fate to advance to the second round is beyond its control. But Reyes believes that Gilas, no matter how slim its chances of avoiding dropping to the classification phase, will just have to make a brave attempt at beating world No. 10 Italy when the two teams clash at the close of the 2023 FIBA World Cup group stage today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Game time is 8 p.m. Filipinos are praying for a miracle and certainly a "perfect game," so to speak, in order to beat the Italians.
The Philippines enters the game with a 0-2 record, no thanks to an 87-81 defeat to the Dominican Republic on opening night last Friday, before blowing an 11-point second-quarter lead en route to falling to Angola, 80-70, last Sunday. That loss to Angola brought so much sting for Gilas, considering that on the other side of the Asian region, World Cup co-host Japan became the first Asian team in the world basketball showpiece to score a victory behind its come-from-behind 98-88 decision over Finland in Okinawa.
The stunning triumph gave the Japanese the inside track in the race for the Paris Olympics, as only one spot is reserved for the Asian region. "We hope Japan loses its last game and we win our last game, then it's all tied. I don't know how they're going to break that time. But in the end, it's going to be dependent on other games; it's not going to be in our hands, The only thing that's within our control right now is the next game; we can't worry about the other things that are going on." Reyes said.
Italy is coming off an 87-82 stunning defeat at the hands of the Karl-Anthony Towns-led Dominican Republic, dropping the European powerhouse squad to an even 1-1 record along with Angola. Gilas' second-round hopes, though, start Tuesday at 4 p.m. when the Dominican Republic (2-0) takes on Angola.
The Philippines, which has naturalized player Jordan Clarkson leading the way, can keep its flickering second-round hopes alive if the Dominican Republic goes on to beat Angola. But that's just one part of the equation since Gilas Pilipinas will still need to beat Italy later in the day. A Gilas victory over Italy would mean a three-way tie at 1-1, along with Angola. From there, a tiebreaker will be used to see which team has the superior point difference in order to gain safe passage to the next round. "We focus on what's within our hands, so there's a game to be played on Tuesday. We're going to come out and prepare as best we can to play a top 10 team, Italy. That's all we're gonna do right now," the Gilas mentor said.
Italy, which went 7-0 in the pre-World Cup matches, is loaded with outside gunners led by Simone Fontecchio, Stefano Tonut, Giampalo Ricci and Marco Spissu.
Source: manilatimes.net
Editor's Note:
Here are results for Day 4 of the Fiba World Cup:
South Sudan 89, China 69
Cape Verde 81, Venezuela 75
New Zealand 95, Jordan 87 (OT)
Cote d’Ivoire 71, Iran 69
Slovenia 88, Georgia 67
Serbia 94, Puerto Rico 77
USA 109, Greece 81
Spain 96, Brazil 78
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