Batang Gilas joins Australia, Malaysia in FIBA U-16 group
Kai Sotto during his Batang Gilas stint in the SEABA Championships last year. | PBA Images
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines drew powerhouse Australia and Malaysia for its group assignments in the FIBA Under-16 Asian Championship.
The Philippine team, composed mainly of its gold-medal winning SEABA team, will be announced week. Ateneo’s seven-foot center Kai Sotto is expected to banner the squad that will be coached by Mike Oliver.
Oliver tinkered with the lineup to add height and firepower.
“The SEABA tournament was against Southeast Asian competition,” he said during one of the team practices at the Meralco gym.
“Now we are going up against the best teams in the whole of Asia. In Seaba, we were the tallest team. Here in FIBA Asia, we’re not one of the taller teams so kailangang mag-adjust,” he added.
The results of the draw are as follows:
Group A: China, New Zealand, Hong Kong
Group B: Australia, Philippines, Malaysia
Group C: Iran, Chinese Taipei, Macau
Group D: Korea, Japan, Lebanon, India
The competition is set to tip off on April 2 in Foshan, Guangdong province, China. All the matches will be played at the Lignan Pearl Gymnasium.
The top squad for each group will qualify directly to the knockout stage starting with the quarterfinals. The second- and third-placed teams will proceed to the playoff round while the fourth placer of each bracket will be eliminated.
The top four teams based on the final standings from the FIBA U-16 Asian Championship will represent the continent at the U-17 Basketball World Cup 2018 in Argentina later this year.
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