The Olympic dream of Gilas Pilipinas is at stake in the make-or-break FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) with 24 teams vying for the final four slots for the Paris Olympics.

To bring Filipinos closer to the action, mobile services provider Smart Communications, Inc. will stream Gilas Pilipinas’ FIBA OQT games live and for free via the Smart LiveStream App, as they go against Latvia and Georgia on 3 and 4 July, respectively.

Downloadable on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, the Smart LiveStream App will also make the live stream accessible to subscribers of all networks.

Gilas coach Tim Cone, whose Gilas Pilipinas program sparked renewed success for our international basketball campaign, will spearhead the 12-man roster that includes naturalized Filipino and Asian Games hero Justin Brownlee, seven-time Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Most Valuable Player (MVP) June Mar Fajardo, and recent PBA All-Filipino Conference Finals MVP Chris Newsome.

Dwight Ramos, CJ Perez, Calvin Oftana, Kevin Quiambao, Carl Tamayo, Japeth Aguilar, Mason Amos and Kai Sotto also join the squad.

‘Expect Gilas Pilipinas to give it their all against host country Latvia and against Georgia.’

Meanwhile, Cone will miss the services of Jamie Malonzo, AJ Edu and Scottie Thompson due to injuries.

Gilas Pilipinas (world rank No. 37) is part of Group A alongside Latvia (No. 6) and Georgia (No. 23) set to play in Riga, Latvia to finalize the FIBA OQT lineup.

Catch Gilas Pilipinas challenge Latvia at their homecourt on Wednesday, 3 July, and Georgia on Thursday, 4 July on the Smart LiveStream App.

The top two teams from Group A (Latvia, Georgia, Philippines) will battle the top two teams from Group B (Brazil, Montenegro, and Cameroon) in a crossover semis format. This means that for Gilas to stand a chance, they only need to beat either Latvia or Georgia in the initial group phase to secure continuation in the crossover semis games.

A win again in the final four semis will land Gilas in a winner-take-all finale for the lone Paris Olympic ticket allocated for the Latvia OQT leg.

Aside from the Latvia tournament, other FIBA OQT legs will take place from 2 to 7 July in Greece, Spain, and Puerto Rico.

The top four emerging teams from each leg will qualify for the remaining Olympic slots.

If Gilas qualifies for the Olympics, they will join Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Serbia, South Sudan, USA, and host country France, along with the winning teams from FIBA OQT legs in Greece, Spain, and Puerto Rico for a total of 12 teams.

“Through the Smart LiveStream App, we encourage every Filipino basketball fan to support Gilas Pilipinas in their quest to join other qualifiers bound for Paris 2024. The FIBA OQT games will be like a primer to Smart Livestream’s most comprehensive broadcast of the entire Paris 2024 happening late July to August,” said Alex O. Caeg, Head of Consumer Wireless Business at Smart.

“Expect Gilas Pilipinas to give it their all against host country Latvia and against Georgia. Let’s continue to support and follow the journey of our men’s national basketball team powered by Smart’s superior mobile network,” added Jude Turcuato, Head of Sports at PLDT-Smart.