The Draw for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers will be on May 7 this weekend. That's where we'll all find out which teams will be grouped together in the first phase of qualifiers, which will have three (3) windows: November 2017, February 2018, and June 2018.
The groupings will be based principally on geography, which essentially means the sixteen (16) qualified Asian teams will be divided into the West teams (Kazakhstan, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, India, Qatar) and East teams (China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand). Because Gilas is an East team, we will NOT be grouped with any West team for the first phase. This makes sense, since it'll be less costly to fly to fellow East Asia countries or even down under compared to flying to the Middle East.
Once we find out what our group is and which teams we'll play, coach Chot Reyes and his staff will be able to plan much better. This is, of course, assuming we survive the 2017 SEABA Championship, which is still not a sure thing no matter what anybody says.
If you ask me, the IDEAL grouping for us in terms of depth and matchups is to be in the same group as New Zealand, Japan, and Hong Kong. The worst case scenario will be Gilas in the same group as Australia, Korea, and Taiwan. It is IMPOSSIBLE for us to be in the same first phase group as China.
Watch the video clips below to get a better understanding of the whole process and to get hyped about the Draw!!!
#LabanPilipinas #Puso
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