By REYNALD MAGALLON
As expected, odds are stacked against Gilas Pilipinas when it bids for a long-dreamed slot for in the 2024 Paris Olympics following the results of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament draw at the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball in Mies, Switzerland on Tuesday, Nov. 28 (Manila time).
The Nationals are drawn in Group A with two European teams in world no. 23 Georgia and no. 8 Latvia, one of the four host nations of the qualifying tournaments set from July 2 to 7 next year in Riva.
The other group featured No.12 Brazil, No. 17 Montenegro and pre-qualifying tournament winner and No. 67 Cameroon.
According to the tournament format, the Filipinos are playing in a single round-robin against the teams in its group with the top two teams from each group advancing in the crossover semifinals.
Winners of the semis showdowns then figure in a clash with one of the four coveted Paris Games slots at stake.
Nothing is coming easy for the Nationals, especially facing up against teams that both saw action and actually performed way better than Gilas in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Latvia finished at the fifth spot of the World Cup final standings just behind Team USA. The OQT hosts, even without NBA star Kristaps Porzingis, managed to take down France in the first round of the competitions to trigger what turned-out to be an unexpected run for the team.
Behind another NBA big man in Davis Bertans, Latvia went on to win against then ranked No. 1 Spain and Brazil in the second round to advance to the playoffs. The team lost to eventual champions Germany in the quarterfinals but swept its classification matches against Italy and Lithuania.
Georgia, on the other hand, wound up at No. 16 in the final standing in its maiden stint in the World Cup. The European crew went as deep as the second round after placing second behind Luka Doncic and Slovenia in the first round.
Gilas, meanwhile, struggled for the most part of the global showpiece before finally breaking through with an emotional 95-76 win over rival China to finish at the 24th spot.
The Nationals made up for the lackluster showing in the World Cup with a golden run in the Asian Games although the team was then composed of an entirely different crew and handled by interim coach Tim Cone following the resignation of Chot Reyes at the end of the World Cup.
