First, the good news: Gilas Pilipinas had already qualified in the second round of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

And now, the bad news: the Filipinos wrapped up their homestand with back-to-back losses to New Zealand and Australia, putting them in a precarious situation when they meet both teams on the road in the third window of the qualifiers this July.

Yes, after suffering a pair of contrasting setbacks against the Tall Blacks and the Boomers, the road gets tougher for Gilas as it needs to win at least once in the coming window to gain an outright entry to the World Cup.

But given the challenging nature of pulling off a win over New Zealand and Australia in their home courts, the Filipinos will probably enter the second round with a 2-4 win-loss record. If that happens, they have to slug it out with unbeaten Jordan, Iran and Syria in Group E to snatch the third and last World Cup spot.

Anything less will be doubly tough for Gilas. If they finish fourth in Group E, they have to come up with a record that is superior to the fourth-best team in Group F, which is composed of Japan, Korea, China, Lebanon, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

While this scenario technically remains premature, what’s definite is that the back-to-back losses that Gilas suffered the past week will definitely have a massive impact in its bid to make its fourth straight trip to the most prestigious basketball event in the world.

With that, Gilas can’t afford to make any mistake when they visit the Tall Blacks and the Boomers on 3 and 6 July in Auckland and Melbourne, respectively.

This urgency needs systemic cooperation. The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas must sit down with the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) to adjust its calendar that will give Gilas coach Tim Cone a longer time to prepare.

As we know, the Korean Basketball League will end in April while the Japan B.League will wrap up in May, so there’s really a pressure for the PBA to adjust its calendar since the abroad-based players like Dwight Ramos, Kevin Quiambao, AJ Edu, Quentin Millora-Brown and Carl Tamayo are all in town and ready to train.

But the most crucial factor is the return of Kai Sotto.

Against New Zealand and Australia, Sotto’s absence was very obvious.

The Kiwis put an iron clamp on Justin Brownlee on defense, leaving Gilas with no solid inside threat other than Millora-Brown. Fortunately, the outside shooting of Dwight Ramos, CJ Perez and Juan Gomez de Liaño somehow clicked, allowing the Filipinos to have a little chance of pulling an upset.

But against the Boomers, the No. 6 team in the world, Gilas was simply outmatched in the rebounding department, 50-39, that allowed them to get more scoring opportunities. They also played with more discipline offensively with only five turnovers despite posting 42 percent from the field.

Simply put, the story could have been different had the 7-foot-3 Sotto been patrolling the paint and his experience playing for the Adelaide 36ers in the National Basketball League for two years would be greatly needed, especially now that the country’s World Cup chances are in peril.

Cone hinted at making some changes in the Gilas game plan. He said he is looking at simplifying their offense to make it easier and more effective against the Tall Blacks and the Boomers, who relied mostly on their height, scrappiness and outside shooting.

But Cone must act as soon as possible. It’s either he starts planning now or completely forget about their dream of playing in the World Cup.