The Gilas Pilipinas took the path of least resistance as they chose to be in Group A during the draw for the Fiba-Asia Men’s Basketball Championship yesterday at the Manila Hotel.
Being the hosts of this tournament, the Philippines was given the privilege of being able to pick 13th in the draw, allowing it to see the placements of the other teams before making its own choice.
Choosing group A means that the Gilas will be taking on Taiwan, Saudi Arabia and Jordan during the initial stage of the tournament.
The choice seals an interesting matchup between the Philippines and Taiwan, who are at the moment embroiled in a diplomatic controversy following the death of a Taiwanese fisherman in disputed waters.
The current row forced Taiwan to deny the Philippines a chance at defending its title in the Jones Cup, which was supposedly the Gilas’ final tournament in their preparations for the Fiba-Asia tilt set Aug. 1-11 in Manila.
Gilas head coach Chot Reyes, who currently is in Lithuania along with the rest of the Gilas team for a two-week training camp, said through this Twitter account that the decision to join Group A was a collective decision between him and the rest of his staff.
“Good draw. All the players/staff were involved in the process. Choice was unanimous,” said Reyes. Coach Norman Black announced the pick for Reyes.
Reigning champions China was picked to be in the so-called “Group of Death” Group C along with South Korea, Iran and another squad from Southeast Asia.
Japan, Qatar and Hong Kong are in Group B while Group D is composed of Kazakhstan, India, Bahrain and another Southeast Asian side which will be determined at the end of the SEABA men’s championship on June 20 to 23 in Medan, Indonesia.