By REYNALD MAGALLON
Gilas Pilipinas boys team is facing tall odds in the FIBA U17 World Cup in Turkey following the results of the draw that saw the Nationals being drawn with powerhouses Spain, Lithuania and Puerto Rico on Wednesday, March 27.
The squad of head coach Josh Reyes is ranked No. 25 in the world but will be tested against No. 2 Spain, No.7 Lithuania and No. 15 Puerto Rico in the Group A – all of which landed at the podium at least once over the course of the last three editions of the tournament.
Spain and Puerto Rico finished second and third respectively in the 2018 edition while Lithuania was third in the 2016.
Over at the other groups, defending champion USA, who is shooting for its seventh straight U17 crown is drawn with China, France and Guinea in Group B while Group C is composed of host Turkey, Argentina, New Zealand and Italy.
Egypt, Germany, Australia and Canada land in Group D of the preliminary round of the tournament that is set to run from June 29 t0 July 7 in Istanbul.
No teams will be eliminated at the end of the first round with Groups A and B, and Groups C and D, crossing over with the top seed playing the other group’s fourth seed in the round of 16.
Gilas made it to the U17 World Cup for its third edition since 2014 all thanks to the team’s Top 4 finish in the 2023 FIBA Asia Cup led by high school ace Kieffer Alas.
Despite the daunting task at hand, Gilas is looking to improve its performance in the 2014 and 2018 editions of the tournament.
The Nationals, then led by Paul Desiderio, finished 15th in the 16-team field in the 2014 edition with a 1-6 overall record.
Gilas missed the 2016 edition but returned with a slight improvement to its placing in 2018 after the Kai Sotto-led boys team ended up with a 2-5 record overall for a 13th place finish.
