Gilas 5.0 begins FIBA Asia Challenge bid, tests India

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas 5.0, composed of the best amateur talents that can be gathered at this time, takes on a tall Indian squad led by vaunted scorers Amritpal Singh and Vishesh Bhriguvanshi at the start of the 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge in Tehran, Iran Friday.

The Filipinos and the Indians clash at 8:45 p.m. (early Saturday morning in Manila) in Group B play in the 12-nation tourney also featuring host Iran, China, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Jordan, Chinese Taipei, Korea, Japan, Iraq and Thailand.

With the unavailability of the PBA players, interim coach Josh Reyes has formed an interim Gilas cadet that is likely to be hard pressed to match the second runner-up finish of the Marcus Douthit-led Team Phl in Wuhan in 2014.

Just against India, Mark Belo and his teammates could be facing a tough challenge with the Indians’ size, ceiling and continued improvement on the international stage.

India stunned China during the last Asia Challenge in Wuhan and sustained its breakthrough in making the knockout round in the FIBA Asia Championship in Changsha last year.

Gilas Pilipinas 5.0 will be next up against Chinese Taipei at 4:15 p.m. Sunday (7:30 p.m. in Manila).

In the next phase of the preliminaries, Team Phl faces off with China, Jordan and Kazakhstan.

 The Filipinos have to make the Top Four from their bracket (Groups A and B) to reach the knockout round.

Iran, Qatar and Iraq slug it out in Group C while Japan, South Korea and Thailand battle in Group D. The Top Four from this bracket join the Top Four from the other bracket in the crossover knockout quarterfinals.

Kevin Ferrer, Mike Tolomia, Russel Escoto, Roger Pogoy, Ed Daquiaog, Von Pessumal, Arnold Van Opstal, Jaymar Perez, Alfonzo Gotladera, Carl Bryan Cruz and Chris Javier complete the Team Phl cast. Reserves are Almond Vosotros and Jonathan Grey.

In Wuhan in 2014, Gilas, which was then preparing for the World Cup in Spain, beat the host team for third place on crucial charities by Paul Lee.

Minus the PBA stars and with limited preparation, the interim Gilas coach said what they could promise is to “just fight for every possession.”