Gilas Pilipinas joins familiar foes Chinese Taipei and New Zealand in Group D for the group stages of the FIBA Asia Cup that will be held from 5 to 17 August in Saudi Arabia.

They all join Iraq in the group as all 16 squads have been sorted to their respective groups via the draw Tuesday evening in Jeddah.

Coincidentally, Gilas lost to the Taiwanese and the Tall Blacks in their final two matches in the Asia Cup qualifiers last February.

The Philippines suffered an 84-91 loss to Chinese Taipei at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium in Taipei last 20 February before absorbing a sorry 70-87 defeat to New Zealand three days later at the Spark Arena in Auckland.

Gilas Pilipinas will be entering this year’s Asia Cup with uncertainty after naturalized player Justin Brownlee tested positive for a banned substance, with the verdict yet to be announced.

Another blow for the Philippines’ Asia Cup campaign will be the absence of 7-foot-3 big man Kai Sotto as he is recovering from his surgery after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament last January and will need nine to 12 months to heal, according to Gilas head coach Tim Cone.

The Philippines suffered a sorry 81-102 loss against Japan in the playoff round of the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup in Indonesia.