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Gilas Pilipinas to face New Zealand in Auckland and Australia in Perth in FIBA qualifiers
The Philippines national team opens the third window of the FIBA World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers with road games against New Zealand on July 3 and Australia on July 6. Head coach Tim Cone said the results will affect the margin of error in the second round.
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Gilas Pilipinas will face New Zealand in Auckland on Friday and Australia in Perth on Monday in the third window of the FIBA World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers, Rappler reported. The team enters the window with a 2-2 record in Group A and has already advanced to the second round.
The top three teams from Group A and Group C advance to the second round, where only the top three teams and the best fourth-placed team from the two new groups qualify for the 2027 World Cup hosted by Qatar.
Head coach Tim Cone said a win in one of the next two games would provide more margin of error going forward. “Every game for Gilas is a championship game. It’s a Game 7. We just got to be prepared the best we can,” Cone said.
The Philippines holds a 2-7 head-to-head record against both New Zealand and Australia in FIBA play and lost its most recent game to Australia 93-66 in March. Gilas prepared with a four-day training camp in Brisbane and tune-up wins over the Manawatu Jets and Franklin Bulls.
The roster includes Justin Brownlee, Dwight Ramos, Kevin Quiambao, June Mar Fajardo, AJ Edu, Carl Tamayo, Juan Gomez de Liaño, RJ Abarrientos, and Chris Newsome.
Mike Phillips makes his FIBA debut, while Justine Baltazar and Troy Rosario return after years away. The team is without Kai Sotto and Quentin Millora-Brown.
