From the Group of Death to the Group of Hope.
Now it’s up for Powerade-Team Pilipinas to turn an intangible gift into something more concrete – like a Top 3 finish in the FIBA World Basketball qualifier in Tianjin, China in August.
The Philippines, South Korea and Japan – Asia’s gleaming basketball superpowers in the early days before China cast a Great Wall of a shadow over the region in the ‘80s – will be reunited in Group A of the 25th FIBA-Asia Men’s Championship set Aug. 6-16.
Fearful of falling into another “Group of Death” as in the FIBA-Asia Olympic qualifier in Tokushima two years ago where the RP team was stacked against China, Jordan and Iran, Powerade Team-Pilipinas coach Yeng Guiao, along with PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios and Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas vice chairman Ricky Vargas, exhaled with relief on hearing the news yesterday afternoon.
“I think we have a good chance of making it to the next round,” said Guiao at halftime of the San Miguel-Burger King PBA-Motolite Fiesta Cup semifinal opener at the Araneta Coliseum. “We hope this is a change of fortune from the Group of Death.”
The Philippines, then coached by Chot Reyes, beat China in the preliminary round but dropped heartbreakers to eventual champion Iran and Jordan, winding up 9th in the classification round.
Getting a smile from the FIBA-Asia draw held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, and a lift from the revised tournament format, the Nationals found themselves bracketed with their old Asian Games rivals plus newcomer Sri Lanka.
In Group B are Iran, Chinese-Taipei, Kuwait and Uzbekistan. Group C has Kazakhstan, Qatar, China and India, while Lebanon, Jordan, United Arab Emirates and Indonesia, runnerup to Powerade-RP in the SEABA Men’s Championship in Medan, are in Group D.
“This is the best hope we can have,” said Vargas. “We got a chance to get to the quarters. This is a lucky break.”
Though he conceded Korea and Japan “are no pushovers,” Guiao expressed excitement over the bright prospects of finishing in the Top 3 in Tianjin and qualifying to the 16th FIBA World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey next year.
“I’m looking forward to calling team practice early,” Guiao said. “Medyo ginanahan tayo.”
Barrios bared that Japeth Aguilar, the 6-foot-10 son of former Northern Consolidated player Peter Aguilar, is arriving June 26 to join the Nationals in their preparation for the W. Jones Cup tournament in Taipei next month.
Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Iran and Kazakhstan are among the countries using the Jones Cup as springboard to Tianjin.
“We were blessed with a competitive grouping, but we must still be able to turn opportunity into success,” said Powerade-RP team manager JB Baylon, who attended the draw with SBP executive director Noli Eala.
The format calls for the best three teams from Groups A and B, with carry-over records, to meet in the expanded six-game preliminaries. The same system will be employed for members of Groups C and D.
The top four teams from the two groups (A/B and C/D) then meet in a 1 vs. 4, 2 vs. 3 reverse quarterfinals, with the winners moving to the cross-over semifinals.
China, as host, earned the luxury of choosing its bracket and apparently joined Group C after seeing a clearer path toward the semifinals since it would be facing relatively weaker opponents in the quarterfinals.
