GILAS PILIPINAS GUNS FOR SEMIS BERTH VS. GEORGIA AMIDST HEIGHTENED EXPECTATIONS

AFTER a victory for the ages against Latvia, Gilas Pilipinas will vie for a semifinals berth in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament when it goes up against Georgia on Thursday at Arena Riga.

The match starts at 3:30 p.m., Latvia time (8:30 p.m., Philippine time).

The Filipinos are looking for a sweep in Group A as well as the top seed for the semifinals after pulling off an upset win by overcoming world No. 6 Latvia, 89-80, in their first game of the tournament.

READ: History unfolds in Latvia as Gilas stuns world No. 6 in OQT

Head coach Tim Cone said the Philippines is definitely not satisfied with just one victory, as they want to progress as far as they can in this campaign with a spot in the Paris Olympics at stake.

"We are not here to win (just) one game," he said. "We really want to try and get to the finals and see what would happen. That’s really the goal."

With its victory over the host country, the Philippines is in an excellent position to advance to the next round. A loss by 18 points or less will still give Gilas a spot in the semifinals, but in such case, it will be the second seed behind Latvia in Group A.

Gilas vs. heightened expectations, as well

Following the stunning win, Cone recognized that expectations at home have increased tenfold, and it is up to the team now to stay focused on what's in front of them.

"Whenever you win a game, the expectations go up so that you have to keep chasing the expectations," he said. "Hopefully, we won’t feel that. Hopefully, we can get that communicated to our team that we can’t play the expectations. We just play the way we can play."

PHOTO: FIBA

What's in front of them now is Georgia, a team that is ranked No. 23 in the world - 14 rungs higher than the Philippines. And due to its 83-55 defeat at the hands of Latvia, they must win by 19 points or more to secure a place in the semifinals.

Cone acknowledged that a tough task remains at hand for Gilas, as it looks to contain two Georgian NBA players in Goga Bitadze and Alexander Mamukelashvili.

"Our country is so passionate about basketball that there is a lot of intense pressure to succeed," he said. "I know that it seems like we haven’t been successful, but that doesn’t mean anything to our team. They (fans) want us to be successful all the time."

"We have to turn around and play Georgia. Our country is going to expect us, especially after winning (vs. Latvia), they expect us to win (vs. Georgia). It’s going to be a tough job to beat Georgia."

2024-07-04T06:10:10Z dg43tfdfdgfd