Japeth Aguilar and Matthew Wright are returning from a one-game suspension.
And they will be around when Gilas Pilipinas meets the Qatar Al Annabi team in a closed-door encounter 7 p.m. tonight at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Their presence will give Team Pilipinas the needed experience when they seek their first win in two games in the second round of FIBA Asia World Cup 2019 Qualifiers.
“It is a welcome development that Japeth Aguilar and Matthew Wright are back in the Final 12 after serving their one-game suspension imposed by FIBA,” said Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Al Panlilio.
Aguilar and Wright were given one-game suspensions while many of the Philippines’ players were suspended for their involvement during a brawl that took place in their game against Australia last July.
The 6’9” Aguilar is expected to provide quickness, and his perimeter game will be important against Qatar. Wright, known as a knock-down shooter from the three-point area, will add to the team’s firepower.
The team struggled against Iran and the two will be welcome additions.
National coach Yeng Guiao said the Philippines won’t be taking the Qatari lightly.
“Medyo underrated itong team na ito But they have size and they have enough talent to beat you if you are overconfident,” said Guiao.
Qatar is currently in sixth and last place in Group F with a 2-5 win-loss slate, and they are two games behind the Philippines, which sits in third place with a 4-3 slate.
He believes Qatar is a dangerous team especially when the game is close and in a game where there will be no home crowd on hand.
“Parang nabawasan without the crowd. Gusto natin may crowd pero hindi pwede. We’ve taken that into consideration. It’s like there is no advantage in terms of home court,” said Guiao.
“We are like in neutral territory because you don’t feel the crowd. When you play Qatar in neutral territory, you can’t be overconfident,” he added.
Guiao said Qatar can also be a streaky team on offense that, if not contained, will be difficult to defend especially when the momentum favors the team.
“Kapag pumasok three-point shots nila at nagkaroon sila ng momentum, ang hirap pigilan. We don’t want them getting runs. I don’t usually want to call time outs pero sa team na ‘to, kapag nagkaroon sila, kailangan mag-time out para lang mapigil ‘yung momentum. Those are the teams that we are looking at,” said Guiao.
Team Pilipinas will be using its speed to counter Qatar’s size according to Guiao.
The Qataris line-up boasts of a tall frontline in 6-foot-10 Emir Mujkic, 6-foot-10 Nasser Khalifa Al-Rayes, and 6-foot-9 Abdelrahman Yehia Abdelhaleem.
On the other hand, 6-foot-5 forward Tanguy Alban Ngombo is another player to look out for, as he was the top scorer in his team’s 95-43 loss to Australia.
In that game, Ngombo finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.
The 34-year-old Ngombo is back on the national team roster as their naturalized player and was their leading scorer against Australia in their previous match.
Gabe Norwood, who is Team Pilipinas’s own defensive specialist is expected to slow down Ngombo.
Filipino-American Stanley Pringle, who replaces Christian Standhardinger as the team’s naturalized player for their second assignment of the second round, will provide more points in Team Philippines’ offensive execution on Monday.
Qatar coach Tim Lewis is familiar with the Filipino style of play and is expected to make adjustments.