THE Philippines starts its trek back to the men’s basketball throne of the Southeast Asian Games when Gilas Pilipinas plays Malaysia on May 9 at the Morodok Techno National Stadium Elephant Hall 2 in Phnom Penh.
The Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and host Cambodia are in Group A, a bracket Gilas deputy coach Jong Uichico described as “easy.”
Indonesia, which beat Gilas in the final in Hanoi last year, is with Thailand, Vietnam and Laos in Group B.
Gilas’s group could look easy, but Uichico said he’s wary of the crossover phase.
“Everybody is thinking that we’re in a lighter group, but our crossover group is absolutely tougher,” Uichico told BusinessMirror on Thursday. “You may top Group A, but it doesn’t mean that when you face the other group, everything is easy.”
Gilas takes an opening day bye on May 10. After Malaysia, the Philippines takes on Cambodia on May 11 and Singapore on May 13.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals on May 15 semifinals with the final set on May 16.
Gilas management has yet to announce its lineup from the originally 28-member pool that was trimmed to 22 after 6-foot-11 June Mar Fajardo, Scottie Thompson, Jamie Malonzo, Roger Pogoy, Mikey Williams and Japeth Aguilar are unavailable for the Games for personal reasons or injuries.
The remaining players in the pool are CJ Perez, Marcio Lassiter, Stanley Pringle, Chris Newsome, Calvin Oftana, Kevin Alas, Aaron Black, Arvin Tolentino, Jeremiah Gray, Deschon Winston, JP Erram, Christian Standhardinger, Brandon Rosser-Ganuelas, Raymund Almazan, Filipino-Americans Ben and Michael Philips, Jerom Lastimosa, Kevin Quiambao, Mason Amos and AJ Edu.
The team flies to Phnom Penh on May 6.