BANGKOK, Thailand — Gilas Pilipinas has already completed a sweep of the group stage to advance outright to the semifinal of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games men’s 5-on-5 basketball here.

Although the repeat-seeking team is through to the next round, head coach Norman Black remains concerned with his Gilas’ spotty defense and sluggish starts.

“Like I said, everything is a concern going forward,” Black said.

The Filipino cagers had a shaky opening period before finding their rhythm to down Malaysia, 83-58, in their first game. Gilas had it worse on Monday as it needed to rally from a 14-point second-quarter deficit before surviving a Vietnam scare, 78-67, to close Group A unbeaten.

“So obviously each game is going to be a challenge for us. Each game is going to be a challenge no matter who the opposition is,” the tactician said.

Black is just relieved that Gilas’ automatic semis seat comes with a two-day rest day perk which they used in recovering and supporting the national boxers compete at the Chulalongkorn University together with Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas chief Ricky Vargas, who used to head the Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines.

“We’ll take a look at the tape and we’ll try to figure out how we can work on that,” said the returning mentor, whose last job handling the reins of the national squad resulted in a gold medal back in the 2011 Jakarta edition.

The knockout semis matches are scheduled on Thursday at the Nimibutr Stadium while the final will be played the following day.

Gilas will play the waiting game for its Final Four rival.

“We’ll scout the opposition, whoever they may be, coming up. So that we can be better prepared going into the game. We just have to play better. I don’t have any solutions for that right now. We just have to play better at the start of the game,” he added.

Gilas will face in the semis the survivor of Indonesia and Vietnam, which clash in a do-or-die quarterfinal today.

“I’m not sure who we will play (in the semis). I’ll just have to wait and find out,” Black said. “Either way, like I said, I’m more interested in getting to practice the next couple of days. And getting a little bit more preparation for the semifinals as it comes up.”