The dice has been cast and Gilas Pilipinas national men’s basketball team received some tough luck after finding themselves grouped with powerhouse squads in the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Manila in July.
The tournament draw was conducted in FIBA’s House of Basketball in Switzerland on early 27 January in the Philippines.
Gilas Pilipinas is going to face former European champions France, expected to be led by NBA players Tony Parker, Boris Diaw and Nicolas Batum, and Oceania runner-up New Zealand in Group B of the Manila tournament.
Teams that will also travel to the Philippines on 5-10 July 10 are Canada, which boasts of young NBA star Andrew Wiggins, Turkey and Senegal which are bracketed in Group A of the competition.
Under the tournament format, each group will play in a round-robin basis, with the top two advancing to the knockout stages. This means that Gilas, assuming France sweeps its preliminary matches, will need only to beat New Zealand to advance to the crossover semifinals.
Matches will be played at the Mall of Asia Arena with Gilas Pilipinas taking on powerhouse France in the opener. Turkey and Canada will also meet in their Group A tiff in the first game.
The Filipinos are aiming to win the tournament to advance to the 2016 Rio Olympics, a stage the country hasn’t reached for the past 44 years.
The tournament draw was conducted in FIBA’s House of Basketball in Switzerland on early 27 January in the Philippines.
Gilas Pilipinas is going to face former European champions France, expected to be led by NBA players Tony Parker, Boris Diaw and Nicolas Batum, and Oceania runner-up New Zealand in Group B of the Manila tournament.
Teams that will also travel to the Philippines on 5-10 July 10 are Canada, which boasts of young NBA star Andrew Wiggins, Turkey and Senegal which are bracketed in Group A of the competition.
Under the tournament format, each group will play in a round-robin basis, with the top two advancing to the knockout stages. This means that Gilas, assuming France sweeps its preliminary matches, will need only to beat New Zealand to advance to the crossover semifinals.
Matches will be played at the Mall of Asia Arena with Gilas Pilipinas taking on powerhouse France in the opener. Turkey and Canada will also meet in their Group A tiff in the first game.
The Filipinos are aiming to win the tournament to advance to the 2016 Rio Olympics, a stage the country hasn’t reached for the past 44 years.
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