The second day of group play in the 2018 Asian Games men’s basketball tournament starts with a match of Philippines vs. Kazakhstan on Thursday, August 16, 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The national team’s Gilas Pilipinas, backed by Rain or Shine, hopes to open the day with a high note when it battles a Kazakhstan crew at 10:00 a.m. (11 a.m. Manila Time).
Maverick Ahanmisi, Raymond Almazan, Beau Belga, Chris Tiu, Gabe Norwood, James Yap, of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters with reinforcement by PBA stars led by San Miguel’s Christian Standhardinger and Magnolia’s Paul Lee headline the delegation.
GlobalPort Batang Pier’s Stanley Pringle, Poy Erram of the Blackwater Elite, NLEX Road Warriors’ Asi Taulava, and Jordan Clarkson of the Cleveland Cavaliers round up the roster.
Gilas cadets Kobe Paras and Ricci Rivero complete the pool, which will be trimmed to a 12-man lineup.
Per ABS-CBN, the match up between the two teams is a virtual do-or-die since the losing team face a must-win against China for their next game in Group D action to be able to advance in the next round where only two squads will advance.
Kazakhstan will rely heavily on forwards Anton Ponomarev and Anatoliy Kolesnikov and shooting guard Rustam Yergali, all averaging in double figures in the World Cup qualifiers, where they dropped all three matches in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup in Beirut then bounced back with an even 3-3 showing in the first round of the FIBA World Cup qualifiers. They swept Qatar in two games, split two matches with Iraq and dropped both games against Iran.
Gilas Pilipinas’ head coach Yeng Guiao felt Philippines is ready to face Kazakhstan without Clarkson.
“We feel we have a pretty good game plan against Kazakhstan, we feel we are ready,” said Guiao after conducting a practice session at the Gor Lokasari gym Wednesday.
“The coaching staff has done an excellent job scouting, doing the preparation and doing the mind-setting of the players, and every body is just making a contribution to the effort,” added Guiao.
Philippines vs. Kazakhstan Live Stream – 2018 Asian Games
Date: Thursday, August 16, 2018
Time: 11:00 a.m. Philippine Standard Time
Location: GBK Basketball Hall, Jakarta, Indonesia
Live Stream: Sports 5
comments