The Gilas Pilipinas will be battling the likes of Argentina and Greece in the preliminary round of the 2014 Fiba World Cup after being picked to be in Group B during the tournament’s draw yesterday morning at the Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona, Spain.
The development means that the Gilas, which earned a spot in the prestigious tournament after placing second in the Fiba Asia Men’s Championship last year in Manila, won’t get to take on the fancied Team USA, who were picked to be in Group C.
Instead, the Gilas will be competing against the world’s third-ranked team, Argentina; fifth-ranked Greece, Croatia and Puerto Rico, which is expected to parade a lineup that features former Petron import Renaldo Balkman.
It can be recalled the Balkman didn’t have a memorable stint in the PBA after being banned from the league for choking teammate Arwind Santos last year. Balkman returned to Puerto Rico, where he led the team to a second place finish in the 2013 Fiba Americas.
Completing group C is Senegal. The group will be playing in the city of Seville.
Afterwards, head coach Chot Reyes tweeted his lament on missing out on being bracketed with Team USA, who are expected to feature a powerhouse roster led by Kevin Durant, and the chance to play two other teams who he felt the Gilas could beat—Ukraine and Finland.
Group C will also have the Dominican Republic, Turkey and New Zealand.
“Would’ve loved to be in that group,” Reyes said after the draw.
Hosts Spain banners Group A, which has France, Egypt, Iran, Serbia and Brazil while Group D is composed of Slovenia, Lithuania, Angola, Korea, Mexico and Australia.