Gilas Pilipinas has 'real chance of making it to Paris' — Del Rosario

Justin Brownlee TMT PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — After Gilas Pilipinas' narrow loss versus Turkey, national team manager Richard Del Rosario believes the Philippine team can "hold its own against higher-ranked teams" as the Tim Cone-coached quintet eye an Olympic slot next week in Riga, Latvia.

The Philippines engaged Turkey in a neck-and-neck battle, before Bosnian-Turkish gunner Tarik Biberovic buried a late triple, capping his 23-point effort to seal an 84-73 win by Turkey in their tuneup game.

"We move on to the next game with a firmer belief we can hold our own against higher ranked teams with a real chance of reaching our mission of making it to Paris," said Del Rosario in a statement posted at the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas after the match.

As of posting time, Gilas was engaging Poland, ranked 15th in the world, in its second and last friendly game on Sunday, 12 midnight (Philippine time).

Gilas is using these two friendly matches to strengthen its team chemistry, and work within Cone's system in preparation for its matches against Latvia and Georgia in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga.

Turkey and Poland typify European squads' playing style, size, outside shooting and good ball movement.

Cone expects Gilas to face the same defensive challenges when the Filipinos battle Latvia, no. 6 in the world and Georgia, ranked 23rd in the world next week.

Undoubtedly, Gilas will be the underdogs against its two foreign group mates at Group A.

Group B, meanwhile, features Cameroon, Brazil, and Montenegro.

The two top squads from each group advance to the crossover semis, while the two surviving teams play in a winner-take-all match to contest a spot in the Paris Olympics.

By the time Gilas finishes playing Poland, the national squad has played at three tune-up matches.

Before its trip to Europe, Gilas played the Taiwan Mustangs last Monday, scoring a 74-64 win in a wire-to-wire victory at the Philsports Arena.

Justin Brownlee will be leading the way for Gilas, with seven-time PBA Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo backstopping him.

Dwight Ramos, Chris Newsome and CJ Perez have been appointed point guards in commission by Cone since Scottie Thompson is down with a back injury.