THE Philippines battles Italy, a team ranked 20 rungs higher, in its last group assignment in the FIBA World Cup on Tuesday—a game the Filipinos must win by 10 points or more and with the hope that Japan loses at home in Okinawa and Angola, their tormentor two nights ago, loses to the Dominican Republic.
It’s complicated and coupled with prayers that “God’s hand” taps Gilas Pilipinas on the back.
But head coach Chot Reyes us unfazed.
“The objective is to get to the Olympics, so no matter how flickering that hope is, that hope is still alive,” said Reyes in an official Local Organizing Committee press release on Monday.
“So, we still have to keep our heads up and find a way to play our best in the next game against Italy,” he stressed.
Gilas Pilipinas is 0-2 won-lost Group A and the only mathematical chance for the hosts to advance to the playoff stage is to beat the Italians, who’re 1-1, at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
But Gilas has to win by at least 10 points over the Gli Azzuri and hope that the Dominican Republic (2-0) beat Angola (1-1) in Tuesday’s 4 p.m. duel also at the Big Dome.
That would create a triple tie at second place among the Philippines, Angola and Italy at 1-2, thus the need to apply the quotient to break the deadlock.
But with the Paris Olympics berth as goal, Reyes and his wards must hope that Japan—the only one among six Asian team to book a victory so far in the group stage, 98-88, over Finland—bows to Australia (1-1) in Group E in Okinawa also Tuesday.
“It is [still alive]. We hope Japan loses its last game and we win our last game then it’s all tied,” Reyes said. “I don’t know how they are going to break that tie, but in the end, it’s going to be dependent, I think, on the other games.”
Reyes added: “It’s not going to be in our hands. The only thing that’s within our control right now is the next game. We can’t worry about the other things going on.”
“It’s really tough, but we got to get over it,” said Jordan Clarkson, Gilas’s most productive player in the tournament. “We have to keep fighting, keep playing, and we don’t have to give up.”
“We still got games to play. That’s all we can do,” he added.
The Philippines’ run-and-gun play will be put to a test against an Italian side that almost always snipes excellently from the outside. And they, too, know that stopping Clarkson would be key.
“It’s very important to Clarkson and pay attention to the others because they are all good players,” Italy’s Luigi Datome said.
Interestingly, Clarkson will be up against Utah Jazz teammate Fontecchio.
Former eight-division world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, meanwhile, is expected to watch the game. And that excites Italian coach Gianmarco Pozzeco, who’s a huge fan of the former senator.