Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone has confirmed that the Philippines men’s basketball national team will play two tune-up basketball games ahead of the upcoming Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT).
Gilas are scheduled to face Turkey and Poland before participating in the final phase of the qualification for the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games. The Olympic Qualifiers are scheduled to start on July 2 in Latvia, and Cone is eager to make full use of the two warm-up games given to his team.
“Playing against Turkey and Poland will give us an indication of what we will have to bring to Latvia and the OQT to be successful,” Cone said as quoted by The Inquirer.
Preparations for the Gilas Men's Basketball National Team are underway at the INSPIRE Sports Academy. They will head to Latvia next week for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Laban Pilipinas! 🇵🇭 pic.twitter.com/bXS0eWCGQr
— Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (@brgyginebraphl) June 21, 2024
The Philippines will face hosts Latvia in their opening game on July 2 and Georgia the next day in Riga. They need to ensure that they win at least one of those games to reach the semifinals. In fact, they need to top Group A in order to qualify for the 2024 Olympics, thereby ending the country’s 52-year wait to compete in the showpiece event.
The entire roster are currently training at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna, in preparation for the OQT and are scheduled to face the Taiwan Mustangs on Monday, June 24, at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City, before they fly to Latvia.
It’s worth noting that Taiwan Mustangs is co-owned by National Basketball Association (NBA) legend Dwight Howard, and the squad also includes former NBA players DeMarcus Cousins and Quinn Cook. However, it has been reported that their availability for the game remains uncertain currently.
The Gilas squad is well rounded, with Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Chris Newsome, and San Miguel Beermen legends June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez expected to feature prominently following their recent exploits in the league.
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