Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers - February 2025 Window

Gilas Pilipinas will take on Chinese Taipei and New Zealand in the February window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.

The Philippines has remained perfect in four games after the first two windows and has officially clinched a spot in the FIBA Asia Cup in August.

In the first window, the Philippines defeated Hong Kong, 94-64, and Chinese Taipei, 106-53. It also notched its first win against New Zealand 93-89, followed by a 93-54 drubbing of Hong Kong.

Here are some information about Gilas in the third window:

Roster:

• Japeth Aguilar
• Justin Brownlee
• AJ Edu
• June Mar Fajardo
• Jamie Malonzo
• Chris Newsome
• Calvin Oftana
• CJ Perez
• Kevin Quiambao
• Dwight Ramos
• Carl Tamayo
• Scottie Thompson

Kai Sotto will be missing the qualifiers and the Asia Cup proper after sustaining an ACL injury.

Meanwhile, pool members Mason Amos and Troy Rosario previously joined the preparations in Doha.

Schedule and results

February 20, 7:00 p.m. - Gilas Pilipinas 84 - 91 Chinese Taipei
February 23, 10:00 a.m. - Gilas Pilipinas vs. New Zealand

The Philippines will play both games in its opponents' homecourt.

'Not happy' after Doha

The Doha friendlies served as part of the team's preparation for the qualifiers and the FIBA Asia Cup.

However, after winning against Qatar, the nationals fell to Lebanon and Egypt, much to the disappointment of head coach Tim Cone.

"Bottom line is, we were not happy with our play. We maybe bit off more than we could chew with this Doha trip," Cone told GMA News Online.

"We didn't respond well to the adversity of the long trip and the three games in a row. We were sluggish throughout and our usual ball movement was lacking."

Despite losing two games in Doha, Cone said the team figured out problems presented by the three teams.

“Now we move on to the real games, the ones that count. We'll see if this experience helped us for our Window.”

—JKC, GMA Integrated News