After Gilas Pilipinas’ defeat to Angola’s Black Antelopes on Sunday evening, Chot Reyes recognized that the host team’s path to the next round had become significantly more challenging.
Currently, the Philippines holds the last position in Group A with a record of 0-2.
Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic leads the group with a 2-0 record, followed by Italy (1-1, +9) and Angola (1-1, -4).
Given this situation, Reyes and his team acknowledge that several factors must align for them to progress to Group I.
“I’m sure you did the math, we all know the mathematics of the situation,” Reyes said. “The first thing for us is to make sure that we come out and prepare and find a way to win that game.
“The quotient will take care of itself.”
To advance, the Los Quisqueyanos must first triumph over the Black Antelopes on Tuesday. Subsequently, Gilas must defeat the Azzurri by more than 13 points.
This is indeed a challenging endeavor, particularly considering Italy’s 10th rank in the world.
“For us, like I said, we focus on what we need to do to be able to compete against a top ten team in the world.”
Considering the broader goal of qualifying for the 2024 Summer Olympics, the situation has also become more demanding for the Philippines.
Following Gilas’ 80-70 loss to the Black Antelopes, Japan’s Akatsuki delivered an unexpected victory over Finland’s Wolf Pack, prevailing 98-88. This outcome not only kept Japan’s hopes alive for Round 2 but also offered them an advantageous position in the Olympic qualification race.
(C) FIBA.basketball
Even if Japan falters against Australia on Tuesday, they will still face the bottom teams of Group F in the classification phase. At present, these teams are Venezuela and the low-ranking Cape Verde.
Still, Reyes holds on to hope that, after 18 months of being in the role, luck will finally favor him and his team.
“We hope Japan loses its final game, and we secure victory in our last game then it’s all tied. I don’t know how they are going to break that tie, but in the end, it’s going to be dependent, I think, on the other games,” Reyes stated.
“It’s not going to be in our hands. The only thing that’s within our control right now is the next game. We can’t worry about the other things going on.”
