The Olympic Games used to be an impossible dream for Philippine basketball.
But thanks to coach Tim Cone and his brave band of brothers collectively known as Gilas Pilipinas, the Olympiad is now within reach.
The Philippines tries to win the first of two games needed to advance to the grandest stage of all sports when it takes on dangerous Brazil at 8:30 p.m. (Philippine time) on Saturday in the semifinals of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia.
Cone said there’s still euphoria that surrounds the team when they scored an 89-80 upset win over Latvia.
But the squad will have to work even harder to get past Brazil, the third top 25 team that the Philippines will face in the OQT as the no. 37 Filipinos went up against world No. 6 Latvia and No. 23 Georgia in the group stage.
“We got another step to take. That’s where the focus, and hopefully the focus of these guys,” said Cone, following their 94-96 setback to Georgia on Thursday.
Gilas Pilipinas placed second in Group A on the strength of its shock win over Latvia. The Filipinos lost to Georgia, with all three teams ending up with the same 1-1 card.
Latvia took the no. 1 spot in Group A with a +19 point differential, followed by the Philippines at +7, and Georgia at -26.
The world no.12 Brazil finished ahead in Group B via a quotient tiebreaker, despite its 74-77 loss to No. 68 Cameroon on Thursday.
Brazil, Cameroon, and other Group B team Montenegro posted identical 1-1 records, but the Brazilians clinched the top seed with a superior point differential of +6.
Cameroon, which reached the semis with a -1 point differential, ahead of world No. 17 Montenegro, which had a -5 point differential, will take on Group A winner Latvia in the other semis pairing.
The winners of the semis wars will duke it out for the lone slot in the coming Paris Olympics.
“There’s this euphoria. We could not get over this euphoria. This really set the guys back. If we’re gonna look forward, that’s gonna be a problem for us,” added Cone, who is banking on a big crowd support for Gilas when they battle Brazil, which will be led by 41-year old Marcelinho Huertas and comebacking Raul Neto following his injury in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
They also have rookie Gui Santos, a 22-year-old player from the Golden State Warriors.
Cone expects much from Justine Brownlee, who emerged as among the best players in Group A with his averages of 27.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists per game.
Center Kai Sotto is returning, after having been cleared to play when his test results went negative for a rib fracture.
Sotto was hurt during the Philippines’ game against Georgia on Thursday evening after an unsportsmanlike foul from Joe Thomasson midway in the second period, sidelining him for the rest of the match.