Gilas Pilipinas will face a familiar foe on Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, with head coach Tim Cone opting to retain the same 12-man lineup following a narrow 69-66 loss to New Zealand on Thursday.
The Philippines, now 1-2 in Pool A of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers, will go up against an undefeated Australia squad coming off a 93-80 win over Guam.
“We played them already in the Asia Cup. That’s the key. The continuing familiarity that we get by playing these guys more and more. I think it just helps us to come up with ways to be successful,” Cone said of the upcoming matchup against Australia, as they lost 84-60 in their match in the continental cup.
Justin Brownlee will look to bounce back from his four-point outing against the Tall Blacks.
Joining him in the Gilas frontline are AJ Edu, J Quentin Millora-Brown, Kevin Quiambao, Carl Tamayo, and June Mar Fajardo.
Dwight Ramos and CJ Perez lead the backcourt along with Juan Gomez de Liano, Calvin Oftana, Chris Newsome, and Scottie Thompson.
The Boomers’ roster includes Mitch Creek, who has been in Manila since Thursday, as well as David Okwera, Elijah Pepper, Isaac White, Jack White, Jacob Holt, Kody Stattmann, Nick Kay, Reyne Smith, Sam Froling, and Tanner Krebs.
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas also urged the fans to wear blue for the home game.
