MANILA – Gilas Pilipinas hopes to make a repeat victory over Chinese Taipei in the third window of the 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers at 7 p.m. Friday at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium in Taiwan.
Gilas head coach Vincent “Chot” Reyes said his players should be at their utmost best as Chinese Taipei is expected to give its all to stay in contention for the next round.
“This is their qualification game. If they beat us, they get into the next round, so we know that Chinese Taipei is going to throw everything at us. It’s incumbent upon us to be just as ready and sharp,” Reyes told ESPN5.
He told his players to – as much as possible – focus on Chinese Taipei first and not look forward too much to their match with Australia on July 2 at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
“We’re not even thinking about Australia at all. This is the one we need – we have to get Taipei first,” said Reyes. “This game (against Chinese Taipei) we need to be at our best for.”
Expected to lead the way for Gilas are June Mar Fajardo, Roger Pogoy, Jayson Castro, Terrence Romeo, Jio Jalalon, Matthew Wright, Calvin Abueva, Jeth Troy Rosario, Japeth Aguilar, Allein Maliksi, Gabe Norwood, and Andray Blatche.
During their first encounter, the national men’s basketball defeated Chinese Taipei 90-83 at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum with locals Castro, Fajardo and Pogoy carrying the load offensively.
Gilas currently has a 3-1 win-loss record in Group B and is already assured of passage to the second round of the Asian Qualifiers. Chinese Taipei is on third place in the group with a 1-3 card./PN
