Protecting the turf: Gilas Pilipinas facing tall order vs Tall Blacks

Game today:

(Mall of Asia Arena)

7:30 p.m. — Gilas Pilipinas vs New Zealand

Gilas Pilipinas is all set to make its first of two homestands against a familiar foe in New Zealand as action in the second window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers explodes today.

All roads lead to the Mall of Asia Arena when the Filipinos, despite missing 7-foot-3 Kai Sotto, host the Tall Blacks with hopes of replicating their win over the visiting team two years ago.

At stake for Gilas in the 7:30 p.m. clash is an outright spot to the second round, prompting the Nationals to go all-out to achieve their goal.

“I think they are really keyed up, ready to go, like what I’ve been seeing a couple of days,” Gilas head coach Tim Cone said.

Gilas comes into the game brimming with confidence following a perfect sweep of its home-and-away match against Guam late last year in the first window.

In the lineup released by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas on Wednesday, naturalized player Justin Brownlee will be at the helm as well as big men Quentin Millora-Brown, AJ Edu and June Mar Fajardo, who are expected to fill the giant void created by the absence of Sotto, who is still recovering from knee injury.

Joining them in the final roster are returning Juan Gomez de Liaño, Chris Newsome, Calvin Oftana, CJ Perez, Kevin Quiambao, Dwight Ramos, Carl Tamayo and Scottie Thompson.

“I think the biggest concern for the players right now is protecting the homecourt. That’s really, really important to them. They want to show in front of the fans, (and) there’s always a certain pride playing at home,” said Cone, who made the tough decision of cutting Justine Baltazar, Troy Rosario and RJ Abarrientos.

“So that makes this particular window extremely important for these guys.”

As it stands, Gilas is on top of Group A with a 2-0 win-loss record, holding a much better quotient over fellow unbeaten Australia after blowing out Guam in both matches.

New Zealand, on the other hand, is searching for its first win after bowing to the Boomers in both meetings in the first window.

Gilas, however, is still on the losing end of the two countries’ head-to-head encounter.

The last two times the two teams met, it was the Tall Blacks who got Gilas’ numbers. New Zealand blew out the Philippines in Auckland in the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers a year ago and again in the main draw in Jeddah.

But Gilas is holding on to the same home court magic of 2024.

In the fifth meeting of the two teams at that time, Gilas pulled off a miracle by beating the Tall Blacks, 93-89, in the second window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers in 21 November 2024 — the first-ever win of the Philippines over New Zealand in a major competition.