Gilas plays Kiwis with Game 7 mentality

MANILA, Philippines — A ticket to the second round of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers is already in the bag no matter what happens in this trip to Oceania.

But don’t expect Gilas Pilipinas to rest easy in the third and last window of Round 1 against New Zealand today in Auckland and later Australia on July 6 in Perth.

Not with the Nationals’ records in the opening stage – currently at 2-2 in Group A – to be carried over to the next round where faceoffs with tough Middle Eastern teams from Group C await.

So far, the Philippines is booked for a home-and-away slate in Round 2 against unbeaten Jordan (4-0) and Iran (3-1) with Syria (1-3) expected to beat Iraq (0-4) for the third slot.

“Right now, if we don’t win one of these next two games, then we’re going to have a very small margin of error as we move forward into the next round,” Gilas coach Tim Cone said in stressing the importance of the back-to-back road games.

“Almost like we’re going to have to sweep the next round, and that’s really difficult with high-quality teams like Iran and Jordan. So it would really help us out if we could win one of these two games.”

It is precisely for this reason that Cone and his crew embraced a “Game 7” mentality in this foray.

The Nationals take their first try at a steal against the Tall Blacks (2-2), who need to win the 7 p.m. gig at the Spark Arena (3 p.m. in Manila) to formally join unbeaten Australia (4-0) and the Filipinos in the succeeding stage.

After playing with 10 men in its 94-66 romp over NZ club Franklin Bulls in a tuneup, Gilas gets all hands on deck for the rematch with Justin Brownlee recharged from the sitout and Mike Phillips back in tow after an ankle injury.

“Justin and Mike look good to go,” Cone shared with The STAR on the eve of the sold-out duel.

The Pinoy dribblers are bracing for the rugged and aggressive plays of the Kiwis, who dealt them a 66-69 loss in the home portion of their WCQ tussle in Pasay City.