MANILA – Gilas Pilipinas national men’s basketball team are bracing for two tough matches in the 2024 Paris Games Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the Arena Riga in Riga, Latvia.
The Tim Cone-mentored national crew will first face host Latvia on Wednesday night (Thursday midnight in the Philippines) to be followed by Georgia on Thursday night (8:30 p.m. in the Philippines).
The Philippine squad lost its two-game European friendlies against Turkey, 84-73, and Poland, 82-80, although it defeated Taiwan Mustangs, 74-64, prior to its departure to Manila last week.
Despite the two losses to Turkey and Poland, Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone said it did give his players an idea of the kind of competition that awaits them in the qualifiers.
“We’re just trying to get our game right. We don’t care if we win or we lose, or we’re not going to go out-scout them or worry about them,” Cone said. “We just want to get out game right for Latvia and Georgia. That’s where the scouting comes in.”
Davis Bertans, the 6-foot-10 power-forward of Charlotte Hornets, will be leading the charge for Latvia in the absence of big man Kristaps Porzingis of newly-crowned NBA champion Boston Celtics, out after undergoing post-season surgery.
The No. 6 ranked Latvia made a lot of heads turn in last year’s FIBA World Cup when it pulled off upset wins over France and Brazil, and then dethroned defending champion Spain.
The Latvians lost to eventual FIBA World Cup champion Germany in the quarterfinals, but beat Italy and later Lithuania, for a strong fifth place finish in its first ever World Cup stint.
The No. 23 ranked Georgia on the other hand, will be spearheaded by a pair of NBA centers in Goga Bitadze of Orlando Magic and Alexander Mamukelashvili of San Antonio Spurs.
Gilas Pilipinas will need to win at least one of the two matches for them to move on to the next phase of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament./PN
