Four years since Angola beat the Philippines in the 2019 World Cup, the two nations will meet again on Sunday in a crucial Group A match for both sides. Will Angola double down on their mastery of Gilas? Or will the Philippines rebound from a brutal loss in their tournament opener?
Catch this game live on Sunday, August 27, at 8:00 PM, Manila time
Angola (0-1)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Childe Dundao
- SG: Gerson Goncalves
- SF: Eduardo Francisco
- PF: Jilson Bango
- C: Bruno Fernando
The Angolans got victimized by Group A favorites Italy on Friday to the tune of an 81-67 score. Angola looked more competitive versus the Italians than what the final score suggests. Outside of the fourth quarter, Angola were outscored by no more than six points in each of the other periods. That says a lot about the quality of this Angolan team that got 19 and 18 points from Childe Dundao and Bruno Fernando, respectively. Although Angola shot horribly from the field, making just 35.4 percent of their shots, they had four more offensive rebounds (15-11) than Italy.
Rebounding will be a huge key for Angola against a Philippines side that struggled to make important stops by securing rebounds on the defensive end of the floor versus the Dominican Republic. Angola were also just 4/30 from deep against Italy, which can also be taken as a sign that they’re due for a better shooting night from deep.
Philippines (0-1)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Scottie Thompson
- SG: Dwight Ramos
- SF: Jordan Clarkson
- PF: AJ Edu
- C: Junemar Fajardo
Much has been said about the Philippines’ soul-crushing 87-81 loss to Karl-Anthony Towns and the Dominican Republic on Friday, but Gilas will have to move on from that. Any chance left for the Philippines to get past the group stage portion of the tournament virtually depends on the result of their date with Angola.
Jordan Clarkson, as expected, led Gilas versus the Dominican Republic, as he dropped 28 points with seven rebounds and seven assists. He was just 9/24 from the field but was 9/11 from the free-throw line. Clarkson is a constant for Gilas. The key will be how the rest of the team performs and that also boils down to execution. Junemar Fajardo showed once again why the Philippines need more play packages centered on him after making 16 points on a perfect 5/5 shooting. Angola don’t have a KAT so Fajardo and Gilas’ frontcourt might have a much better showing this Sunday.
PREDICTIONS:
Spread: Angola cover (+7.5) the spread.
Over/Under: The total (158.0) hits the Over.
