Gilas Pilipinas Boys will have their work cut out for them as teams and groupings of next month’s FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024 have been finalized.
The squad of Coach Josh Reyes is situated in Group D together with New Zealand, host country Jordan, and Southeast Asian rivals Indonesia.
The Philippine team booked their place in the September 2-9 festivities, to be played in Amman, after conquering the SEABA Qualifiers in Malaysia.
Gilas swept the July 19-21 tournament by winning all of its three games, including an 87-64 beatdown of Timnas in the virtual gold medal match.
Andy Gemao starred in that triumph with 29 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists, with Cabs Cabonilas and others providing significant contributions in the whole campaign to ensure that the Filipino dribblers would finish unbeaten.
The present-day Gilas Boys are out to better their predecessors’ sixth-place finish in the previous edition of the meet in 2022 held in Tehran, Iran.
Featuring Mason Amos and Jared Bahay, that squad topped Group C with a clean 3-0 card only to lose to Lebanon, 99-83, in the quarterfinals.
Reigning U18 Asia Cup champions Korea, meanwhile, will begin their title defense bid in Group B against Iran, India, and Kuwait.
Group A features Australia, Chinese Taipei, Lebanon, and Mongolia while Group C is composed of China, Japan, Qatar, and Kazakhstan.
The distribution of teams is based on the FIBA World Ranking for Boys, presented by NIKE.
The Philippines will begin its campaign on September 2 versus Indonesia.
