OLYMPIC DREAM: Gilas starts Summer Games ticket hunt

Gilas Pilipinas’ daunting task of bringing the country back to the Olympics after more than five decades of absence begins with a challenging schedule against higher-ranked European powerhouse teams.

The 11-man squad squares off with host Latvia to kickoff its campaign in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament Thursday at the Arena Riga.

Gilas charges into the first of its two games just 20 hours apart at 12 a.m. (Philippine time).

The Filipinos, who arrived in Latvia Sunday, will have little time to rest as they embark on another tough game against Georgia at 8:30 p.m. (Philippine time, Thursday).

Putting the exhausting schedule aside, Gilas must play a perfect game to get past its two rivals parading seasoned National Basketball Association (NBA) players and World Cup standouts.

As part of their buildup for the tournament that stakes a flight to the Summer Games firing off on 26 July, the Nationals played a couple of tune-up games against Turkey and Poland to get a feel of what their opponents in Riga will be throwing at them.

Gilas, however, lost both games as it bowed to the no. 24 ranked Turks, 73-84, in Istanbul before almost stealing one against No. 15 Poland in a sorry 80-82 loss.

But head coach Tim Come saw the results in a positive way as it at least showed Gilas’ improvements aside from showing what they need to address in their game heading into the OQT.

“We’re just trying to get our game right. We don’t care if we win or we lose, or we’re not going to go out-scout them or worry about them,” Cone said.

“We just want to get our game right for Latvia and Georgia. That’s where the scouting comes in,” he added.

Gilas, bannered by naturalized player Justin Brownlee, seven-time Philippine Basketball Association Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, Chris Newsome and CJ Perez, won a friendly match over the Taiwan Mustangs, 74-64, prior to its flight to Turkey.

But taking on the world No. 6 Latvians will be an uphill battle.

‘We’re just trying to get our game right. We don’t care if we win or we lose, or we’re not going to go out-scout them or worry about them.’

NBA champion Kristaps Porzingis of the Boston Celtics won’t be suiting up for the Latvians but the home team will still have workhorse Davis Bertans, Rolands Smits and Artus Zagars in their roster.

In Latvia’s fifth place finish in the 2023 World Cup in Manila, Bertans averaged 12 points per game, Smits normed with 13.0 while Zagars had 12.4 markers and 7.4 assists.

Leading Georgia, on the other hand, are Orlando Magic’s Goga Bitadze and Alexander Mamukelashvili of the San Antonio Spurs.

Gilas, who had no replacement for injured guard Scottie Thompson, will bank on young center Kai Sotto, Dwight Ramos, Calvin Oftana, Mason Amos, Carl Tamayo and Kevin Quiambao.

The top two teams after the preliminary round will advance into the knockout semifinals against the top two in Group B composed of Brazil, Cameroon and Montenegro.

Already qualified in the Summer Games in the French capital are defending USA, Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Serbia, South Sudan and France.