Gilas Pilipinas is expected to face Taiwan’s naturalized player Quincy Davis when the two nations clash on Nov. 27 in the first window of the 2019 FIBA World Cup home-and-away qualifiers at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Davis, who missed the FIBA Asia Cup last August because of an injury, was listed in Taiwan’s 20-man pool that is now deep in training for its Nov. 24 home match against Australia.
The 34-year-old keyed Taiwan’s victory in the East Asia Championship earlier this year but missed most of the William Jones Cup and the whole duration of the FIBA Asia Cup after sustaining a vertebra injury.
He is one of many familiar faces Gilas likely to face in the home match at the Big Dome. FIBA.com listed veterans Tien Lei, long-haired Tseng Wen-Ting, Tsai Wen-Cheng and Chou Po-Chen.
Gilas opens its qualifying campaign on Nov. 24 when it visits Tokyo to face Japan before heading home to host the Taiwanese cagers.
Listed in Gilas coach Chot Reyes’ pool are naturalized player Andray Blatche, Jayson Castro, Terrence Romeo, June Mar Fajardo, Calvin Abueva, Japeth Aguilar, Raymond Almazan, Gabe Norwood, Troy Rosario, Kiefer Ravena, Kevin Alas, Baser Amer, Allein Maliksi, Carl Bryan Cruz, Russell Escoto, Kevin Ferrer, Jio Jalalon, RR Pogoy, LA Revilla, Matthew Wright, Von Pessumal, Mac Belo and Mike Tolomia.
Gilas, Taiwan, Australia and Japan are all in Group B of the home-and-away qualifiers, with the top three teams advancing to the second round.
