SAMAHANG Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Erika Dy hailed Gilas Pilipinas’ impressive fourth window in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers, especially after the Philippines secured two victories without a naturalized player.
Gilas opened the window by escaping Jordan, 82-81, in overtime before completing the sweep with a 68-56 victory over Iran on Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
For Dy, the back-to-back wins were significant not only because of the results, but because of how the Philippines achieved them.
“Special, obviously. We’re very happy, first of all, regardless of iyung lineup natin today, that we were able to get not only one win in this window, but two wins,” Dy said.
The bigger takeaway, according to the SBP executive director, was that Gilas managed to do it with an all-Filipino lineup, with Justin Brownlee unavailable for the window.
“And I think more importantly, like you mentioned, it was an All-Filipino lineup,” Dy added.
“So that speaks a lot about how or what Philippine basketball can achieve.”
The two victories moved Gilas to 4-4 in Pool E and gave the Philippines a much-needed boost in its bid for a fourth consecutive FIBA Basketball World Cup appearance. (Jesus Nathaniel Valdez)
