Gilas Pilipinas is readying to travel to Qatar to participate in the 2nd Doha International Cup from February 14 to 16, as part of its preparation for the final window of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers.
The Philippines will face Qatar on February 14, Lebanon on February 15, and Egypt on February 16 during the invitational tournament in Doha.
Similar to Gilas, the Cedars of Lebanon have already secured their spot in the FIBA Asia Cup, which will take place from August 5 to 17 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, Qatar is fighting to stay alive in Group E of the qualifiers.
“The whole idea is to continue to get to know each other. We have such small windows to be together that each window is absolutely crucial to our chemistry and our ability to compete at a high level together,” said Gilas head coach Tim Cone.
Gilas will then hit the road to wrap up its qualifiers campaign, with games scheduled against Chinese Taipei on February 20 and New Zealand on February 23.
The Gilas pool for the final window includes June Mar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, Dwight Ramos, Justin Brownlee, Scottie Thompson, AJ Edu, CJ Perez, Chris Newsome, Jamie Malonzo, Calvin Oftana, Carl Tamayo, Angelo Kouame, and Mason Amos.
Troy Rosario has also been called up to replace Kai Sotto, who is sidelined due to injury. The team is also hopeful that Kevin Quiambao will be cleared to play in time.
“So all of these games are so important to us,” Cone added. “The friendlies are going to be crucial for us, learning how to go on the road and beat Taiwan, who is a completely different team this time. They have a new coach, a different import, and additional players. We are expecting a big battle from Taiwan.
“We want to be able to get there and compete. There’s going to be a lot of really great teams there — Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle Eastern teams.”
He went on, “I’m probably forgetting someone, but I know there will be a lot of good teams we’ll have to compete against. The idea is to use this window to prepare and get better for the FIBA Asia.”
