CAUTIOUS APPROACH: Gilas Pilipinas stakes perfect record vs new-look Taiwanese

Game today:

(Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium)

7 p.m. — Gilas vs Chinese Taipei

Gilas Pilipinas stakes its unbeaten record in a rematch against a rejigged Chinese Taipei for the first of its two road assignments in the third window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers today at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium.

The Filipinos flew to Taiwan last Tuesday after a pit stop in Manila from a brief training camp in Doha, Qatar in preparation for the final qualifying leg of the Asia Cup to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Gilas coach Tim Cone and his men march into the 7 p.m. battle without too much pressure on their shoulders, having already secured a spot in the main draw slated 5 to 17 August following a perfect run in four games in the first two windows to take the top spot in Group.

Still, Cone is wary of how dangerous the Taiwanese are, especially with the host team desperate to land in third place for one final crack at a spot in the main tournament.

Chinese Taipei is currently sitting in third sporting a 1-3 win-loss record just above the only team it has beaten in winless Hong Kong (0-4).

The third placed teams in all six groups after the third window will play in the last qualifying tournament for the last seats in the Asia Cup.

Gilas will have its hands full this time as it will be facing a retooled Chinese Taipei team compared to the one it whipped by 53 points back in Manila a year ago.

Behind naturalized player Justin Brownlee and 7-foot-3 center Kai Sotto, Gilas routed the Taiwanese, 106-53, in the opening window.

“We expect to come out and battle against Taiwan. We know they’re gonna be a lot, lot better than we played them the last time,” Cone said.

Chinese Taipei has a new coach in Italian mentor Gianluca Tucci handling a revamped roster with a good mix of talent and experience.

Aside from that, the Taiwanese are now not lacking in size unlike in their first meeting. They tapped 7-footer Brandon Gilbeck as a naturalized player and retained only four holdovers from their previous squad.

Chinese Taipei added Japan B. League players 6-foot-2 Mohammad Al Bachir Gadiaga and Tseng Hsiang-Chun; Chinese Basketball Association veteran Ting-Chien Lin and seasoned gunner Chun Hsiang Lu.

“They got a new import. They got a new coach. They got a couple of new players from the Japan League and one from the CBA (Chinese Basketball Association),” Cone said.

The decorated mentor was particularly worried about Gilbeck, who although not known to be a scorer, averaging a decent 11.5 points in his first two games, but is a tenacious inside stopper and rebounder.

The American-born center had five blocks in an 85-55 win over Hong Kong and seven in Chinese-Taipei’s 64-81 loss to New Zealand in Christchurch in the second window last year.

“They’ve made some big changes. They changed their naturalized player to a seven-footer. He had seven blocks in their game against New Zealand. And they played New Zealand right to the very end. New Zealand broke away in the end and this was in New Zealand,” Cone said.

It will be a big challenge for Gilas sans the absence of injured Sotto, who underwent surgery after suffering a knee injury while playing in the Japan B.League.

June Mar Fajardo and AJ Edu will have to muscle their way past Gilbeck’s defense but will also need to defend the quick and athletic wings and guards of Chinese Taipei.

But Cone is confident Gilas has the pieces to bring down the team that has not won a game against the Philippines since the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship held in Manila.

Chris Newsome, Scottie Thompson, CJ Perez, Dwight Ramos, Calvin Oftana, Kevin Quiambao, Japeth Aguilar, Carl Tamayo and the rest of Gilas are ready for war.

“We expect a much, much stiffer fight this time around… but I think we’re ready for it,” Cone said.

Gilas will travel to New Zealand to meet the Tall Blacks in a rematch on the 23rd.