Gilas Pilipinas’ prospects of advancing to the second round of the 2023 FIBA World Cup are diminishing as the team’s record currently stands at 0-2, with both defeats coming during the tournament.
However, the Philippines are still not yet over.
The national team is now in last place in Group A with a record of 0-2 after suffering defeats at the hands of Dominican Republic (87-81), and Angola (80-70). Dominican Republic currently leads the group with a record of 2-0.
The games will decide the Philippines’ future in the World Cup on Tuesday, even though things could be better.
How can Gilas Pilipinas possibly proceed to the second round?
It will require a scenario in which all three of Gilas Gilas Pilipinas, Italy, and Angola fall into a three-way tie at 1-2, and the Philippines have the best quotient among the three teams in games played against each other. This can only happen if the Philippines has the best quotient in games played against each other.
That is a complex undertaking, and these conditions need to be met for this to occur.
First Requirement: Dominica must win over Angola
The Dominican Republic team, led by Karl-Anthony Towns, can improve Gilas’ prospects of moving to the next round of competition by defeating Angola.
If the Dominicans were to win, it would give them a perfect record in the group, guaranteeing them first place overall and advancement to the next round. It also brings Angola’s record to 1-2, allowing Gilas to draw even with them in the standings.
If Angola prevails, however, they will move up alongside the Dominican Republic with two victories, removing Gilas from contention because the best that the Philippines can achieve is to finish the group round with one win.
However, according to NBA Online Betting PH, Gilas needs a lot more than just a loss against Angola in the game that starts at 4. They will also need to take care of business in the matchup versus Italy at 8 p.m.
second: Gilas must win by a margin of 13 points or more over Italy
Now comes the difficult portion of the process.
An Angolan defeat coupled with a United States victory over Italy is required for the possibility of a three-way tie at 1-2 to materialize.
In that case, the FIBA’s tiebreak regulations will have to be implemented, allowing Gilas to finish in second place in the group.
The three teams’ records against each other will serve as the first tiebreaker; however, given that in this particular situation, all three teams will possess a record of one victory and one defeat versus the other two teams, the tie will not be broken based on those results alone. The point differentials between the teams in games they have played against one another will serve as the next tiebreaker.
Angola’s point difference is already determined thanks to their 14-point defeat at the hands of Italy and their 10-point victory over the Philippines, which resulted in a negative of -4.
Although Italy is currently at +14 and Gilas is currently at -10, these scores could go in either direction depending on their future head-to-head matchup outcome.
If Gilas wins by 13 points, they will have a better quotient than Italy, which will be +1, and both of these teams will have a higher quotient than Angola, which will be 0. If, on the other hand, they win by a margin of 12 points or fewer, Italy will move on to the next round since they have the best point differential.
The Philippines would advance to the second round if the following events took place: Angola would be defeated by the Dominican Republic, and the Gilas would defeat Italy by a margin of at least 13 points.
Now, this is easier to say than it is to achieve because the Philippines, which is rated 40th in the world, needs to beat Italy, ranked 10th in the world, by a margin of 13 points.
Although thirteen points is a lot when playing a team ranked in the top 10 in the world, “Puso” and “Never Say Die” are just two of the Filipino people’s favorite words. On Tuesday, it will be time to see how well those thinking methods hold up under scrutiny.
At the Smart Araneta Coliseum, the match between Angola and the Dominicans will start at four in the afternoon. The match between the Philippines and the difficult task will start at eight in the evening.
