By REYNALD MAGALLON
Gilas Pilipinas is bracing for a tough task ahead when it takes on a formidable Jordan side to open the fifth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifer at the Prince Hamzah Hall in Amman, Jordan, early Friday morning, Nov. 11 (Manila time).
The Nationals (3-3) bannered by Adelaide center Kai Sotto and naturalized player Ange Kouame battle the Jordanians (3-3) who are set to parade the core players of its team that placed fourth in the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup last July at 12 a.m.
Sotto finished with 13.0 points and 11.5 rebounds in his two games with the national team during the August window while Kouame is donning the country’s color anew after recovering from a knee injury.
Expected to play a key role is Dwight Ramos who put up 13.5 points and eight rebounds in the two games last window. Joining him in the 13-man pool Gilas brought to Jordan are last window holdovers Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar, Calvin Oftana, and Jamie Malonzo.
Also in the pool were CJ Perez, RR Pogoy, Poi Erram, Kevin Quiambao and B. League imports Thirdy Ravena and Ray Parks Jr.
Jordan, meanwhile, is expected to have Freddy Ibrahim, Amin Abu Hawwas, and Sami Bzai and center Ahmad Al Dwairi – all of which played key roles in their splendid Asia Cup campaign where they beat the likes of Iran and Chinese Taipei, and only narrowly losing to Lebanon, 76-75 in the semifinals.
History, however, is on the side of Gilas in terms of FIBA-sanctioned events, boasting a head-to-head record, 3-1, over the past ten years – the latest was a 70-65 victory for the Filipinos in the classification match in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup.
In that Gilas team, only Aguilar and Pogoy remained with the national team while Jordan still had Hawwas, Bzai and Ahmad Alhamarsheh.
Gilas other victories came in the 2013 Fiba Asia Championship, 77-71, in Manila and a close 71-70 triumph in the 2014 Fiba Asia Cup group stage in Wuhan. Jordan’s lone victory against the Philippines in FIBA-sanctioned tournaments, meanwhile, happened in 2016 FIBA Challenge when the Falcons gave Gilas the second-round boot via a 119-105 victory.
