Olympic dream is alive for Gilas Pilipinas after finishing 24th at the FIBA World Cup

WHEN everyone thought the Olympic dream for Gilas Pilipinas was dead and gone, a blowout win over Asian basketball behemoth China turned out to be their ticket to qualify for the quadrennial games.

Say hello to the 2024 Paris Olympiad, Gilas Pilipinas.

Despite finishing with a 1-4 win-loss card at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, the Philippines managed to finish 24th among 32 teams, according to FIBA. This will be the country’s best performance so far after it finished dead last in 2019.

Thanks to its 96-75 drubbing of perennial rival China, coupled with its narrow losses to Dominican Republic, Angola and Italy, the Philippines earned a spot in next year’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) through a superior points differential.

However, being a qualifying tournament, Gilas faces much tougher competition as it battles other teams from other continents such as Europe and the Americas.

The coaching staff will also be a concern as head coach Chot Reyes already resigned his position. No word yet on who will helm the team, first, for the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China and now the OQT next year.

The best Asian team in the 2023 FIBA World Cup is Japan, who notched three victories and thus clinched an automatic ticket to the Paris Olympiad next year.

(MAIN PHOTO – Jordan Clarkson goes up against four other Chinese players: Screengrab from FIBA World Cup Facebook page).

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