‘Group of Death’ awaits Batang Gilas

MANILA, Philippines — Batang Gilas coach Mike Oliver said yesterday the Philippine team arrived a week early in Argentina to adjust to the time difference and climate conditions before opening its campaign at the fifth FIBA U17 World Cup in Rosario, a port city 300 kilometers from Buenos Aires, on Saturday.

Oliver and the Batang Gilas delegation, including 16 players and coaching consultant Josh Reyes, took 31 1/2 hours to land in Buenos Aires from Manila with layovers in Dubai and Rio de Janeiro. Oliver said the final 12-man lineup will be submitted to FIBA during the technical meeting of team managers on Friday.

“Maaga lang kami nagpunta (sa Argentina) para makapag-focus ang mga bata sa pag-ensayo at the same time makapag-adjust sa time difference and the climate,” said Oliver. Argentina is 11 hours behind Manila in the time zone.

The challenge for Batang Gilas is to score its first win in FIBA U17 World Cup history. The Philippines made its debut in the competition in 2014 in Dubai and went 0-4, losing to Angola, 82-72, Greece, 85-65 and the US, 125-64 in the group stage and to France, 86-57 in the round of 16. Coach Jamike Jarin’s team was made up of Jollo Go, Matt and Mike Nieto, Diego Dario, Jolo Mendoza, Renzo Navarro, Paul Desiderio, Arnie Padilla, Richard Escoto, Carlo Abadeza, Mike de la Cruz and Mikel Panlilio. This year will mark the second Philippine appearance in the FIBA U17 World Cup. The US has swept the four FIBA U17 World Cups so far in Hamburg, Germany in 2010, Kaunas, Lithuania, in 2012, Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 2014 and Zaragoza, Spain in 2016.

In Argentina, Oliver said the “Group of Death” awaits the Philippines where it is bracketed with three world top 10 contenders, No. 7 France, No. 8 Argentina and No. 10 Croatia. The Philippines is ranked No. 34 among 98 countries in the U17 category. If the Philippines finishes fourth in Group D, it will face likely Group C leader and world No. 2 Canada in the round of 16.

“Our goal is like in FIBA Asia (where) we only wanted to advance to the quarterfinals but we’re not putting any pressure on our team,” said Oliver. “We’ll take it one game at a time. We’re in what they call the ‘Group of Death’ kaya mapapalaban tayo ng husto.”

At the FIBA Asia qualifier for this year’s U17 World Cup in Foshan last April, the Philippines booked a ticket to Argentina by finishing fourth. Batang Gilas beat Malaysia, 62-57, and lost to Australia, 82-52 in the group stage then defeated Hong Kong, 103-61, to advance to the quarterfinals where it shocked Japan, 72-70. In the semifinals, the Philippines bowed to China, 60-54 and in the playoff for third, lost to New Zealand, 76-60. 

Host Argentina trained in Mexico to prepare for the U17 World Cup under coach Diego Lifschitz. France is expected to contend for the title with Europe U16 MVP Killian Hayes whose father DeRon is a former American import in the French league and mother Sandrine is French. The 6-5 Florida-born Hayes, 16, has a 6-7 1/4 wingspan and is a combo guard like his idols Manu Ginobili and James Harden.

Batang Gilas’ pool of 16 players lists seven who are at least 6-4 – 7-1 Kai Sotto, 6-8 Shaun Chiu, 6-7 Raven Cortez, 6-7 Carl Tamayo, 6-5 Bizmarck Lina, 6-5 Yukien Andrada and 6-4 Joshua Lazaro. Also in the roster are 6-2 Rafael Go, 6-1 RC Calimag, 5-11 Migz Pascual, 5-11 Jorick Bautista, 5-11 King Balaga, 5-11 Terrence Fortea, 5-11 Forthsky Padrigao, 5-10 Mclaude Guadana and 5-9 Gerry Abadiano.