For once, Gilas Pilipinas has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to their frontcourt options.
Quentin Millora-Brown, AJ Edu, and June Mar Fajardo suited up for the Philippines in the second window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers, with Kai Sotto, the freshly cleared Mike Phillips, Troy Rosario, and Justine Baltazar available for the program. This doesn’t even include the likes of Justin Brownlee, Kevin Quiambao, and Carl Tamayo, who played spot minutes as bigs when Gilas preferred to go small.
The versatility is evident in the frontcourt, but with the backcourt? Not so much.
The games against New Zealand and Australia exposed the deficiencies that hounded the backcourt of Gilas Pilipinas. Yes, Dwight Ramos and CJ Perez demonstrated some scoring ability, but their double-figure performances came against New Zealand. Excluding Ramos, the other players in the Philippines’ backcourt scored no more than four points against Australia.
Although the Gilas bigs picked up some of the slack in scoring, what was sorely missing was playmaking, something typically expected from the backcourt. In fact, Justin Brownlee, who had seven assists against Australia, was the only one who had more than three assists during the second qualifying window. Overall, Gilas Pilipinas had 35 assists in the second window, lower than their 49 in the previous qualifying window. Too often were the Philippines caught in isolation plays that resulted in turnovers and points for their opponents. Instead of sharing the ball with their peers, it was their opponents that made the most out of the errors.
Thankfully, Gilas made it to the second round of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers, but that doesn’t mean they should relax. It’s clear the current pool is far from optimal and requires some retooling. Instead of versatility, there seems to be an inclination towards scoring, and if that’s the case, what happens when the shots don’t fall? Passes become forced rather than a function of a well-moving offense. Turnovers pile up and opponents pull away.
Thus the search begins with finding a proper floor general and the dream would be to get someone like Dylan Harper, who would provide the playmaking versatility that Gilas Pilipinas sorely needs now. Unfortunately, the chances of him playing for the Philippines are slim as he would need an exemption from FIBA due to his representing the USA in the 2023 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup. From there he would be classified as a naturalized player as he is over 18 and if he were to be a local, it would take some time.
For now, though, Gilas should focus on more realistic options. Scottie Thompson’s minutes were limited compared to his past stints, likely because Juan Gomez De Liano got more exposure, but Gilas Pilipinas needed his penchant for keeping the ball moving rather than De Liano’s buckets, or lack thereof.
Robert Bolick would be another ideal option, not just because he’s had previous experience with the national team, but also because he’s one of the PBA’s leaders in assists. Jordan Heading should get some consideration, especially since he can provide shooting and playmaking.
More than four months remain before the next round of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers and that should give Gilas Pilipinas ample time to finetune their program and address some needs that arose from the last two qualifying windows.
The Philippines may have felt some relief despite being winless for this window, but the next stages will be unforgiving to those who take this next opportunity for granted.
