Gilas Pilipinas faces Lebanon while defending
champion Iran takes on South Korea on Thursday in the knockout
quarterfinal round of the 2015 FIBA Asia Cup Championship in China.
Ranked 31st in the world, Gilas
swept the second round with big wins over Japan, defending champion Iran and
India for a 4-1 win-loss card. The teams take a rest day today.
Gilas actually ended tied with Iran at the top
of Group E, but it secured the top seeding on account of its shock win over the
vaunted Iranians.
Japan wound up with a 3-2 slate followed by
India and Palestine each with 2-3 and Hong Kong with zero win in five games.
Palestine dealt Gilas’ only defeat going into the quarterfinals.
On account of Lebanon being just three spots
lower than Gilas in the world ranking, the Filipinos cannot take chances and
must play with the same intensity they did in shellacking Iran and India.
Gilas coach Tad Baldwin credited the tenacity
and killer instinct of his boys in the 99-65 win over India which he said was
“put under pressure” by their whirlwind defense.
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