During the 2014 FIBA tournament in Spain, the Philippines had a proud showing, winning its first game in the competition after 40 years and improving its FIBA ranking from No. 34 to No. 31. Basketball fans are eager to see how Gilas Philippines will perform in the upcoming Asian games in Incheon, Korea.
In a report by The Blow Sports, the Philippines is still attempting to have naturalized center Marcus Douthit approved to play. Should the tournament officials deny Douthit from the team's roster, the Philippines would only have two big men: June Mar Fajardo and Japeth Aguilar. It would be a bigger feat to contend with tournament favorites like Iran, China and South Korea. The Philippine team would also be forced to focus their offense from the backcourt through shooters like Jimmy Alapag, Jeff Chan, LA Tenorio and Ranidel De Ocampo.
The current 12-man roster features Marcus Douthit, June Mar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, Jared Dillinger, Jimmy Alapag, Paul Lee, LA Tenorio, Gary David, Jeff Chan, Ranidel de Ocampo, Gabe Norwood and Marc Pingris.
Teampilipinas.info reports that the preliminary round game schedule for Gilas Pilipinas will commence on September 23, 2014, Tuesday, at the Hwaseong Sports Complex Gymnasium in Incheon. The qualifying round actually began on September 20 but Gilas Pilipinas will no longer play because the team has automatically qualified for the preliminary round. Gilas Philippines will be in Group E in the preliminary round, together with Iran and the first placer of Group B.
On September 23 at 2:00 p.m. Incheon time, the Philippine team will face the first placer of Group B, which could be Saudi Arabia, India, Kazakhstan or Palestine. On September 25 at 2:00 p.m. Incheon time, Philippines will face Iran at the same venue. The quarterfinals will be played from September 26 to 28 while the semifinals will be played on October 1. The Asian games finals will be played on October 3, Friday.
According to Rappler.com, India played against Palestine on September 20, with the Indian team winning by 40 points with a final score of 89-49. Palestine outrebounded India 39-44 but the Indians hit a total of 13 shots from behind the three-point line. India also had 19 steals and caused Palestine 26 turnovers. Amjyot Singh scored 25 points and shot 63% from the field for India. Palestine had Sani Sakanini with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
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