THE action continues for Gilas Pilipinas as it plays another pivotal game, this time against the New Zealand Tall Blacks for its second outing in the elimination round of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
The Filipinos and the Kiwis are set to go at it at 9 p.m. today at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City in a vital encounter, which could determine who moves forward from Group B to the crossover semifinals this weekend.
Canada and Senegal clash in the first game at 6:30 p.m. in an equally important affair in Group A action.
The top two teams in each group moves on to the final four.
Against New Zealand, Gilas Pilipinas, with its core of Andray Blatche, Jayson Castro, Gabe Norwood, Terrence Romeo, Jeff Chan and June Mar Fajardo will go up against the likes of Michael Karena, brothers Corey and Tai Webster, Isaac Fotu and Jordan Ngatai.
What’s interesting about this tussle is that Philippine coach Tab Baldwin used to handle New Zealand and is a Kiwi himself.
He might be familiar with the Kiwis’ style of play and vice versa.
In various pre-tournament interviews, New Zealand coach Paul Henare and players said that they’ve been preparing hard for this encounter with the Philippines, knowing how important this game is for both teams’ chances.
As of this report, the Philippines is still battling world no. 5 France in its opening game.
Regardless of the result of the France game, the duel with New Zealand is a must-win for Gilas Pilipinas for it to strengthen its bid for the crossover semifinals.
