MANILA – Gilas Pilipinas will be placed in Pot 1 of the FIBA World Cup group draw as announced by FIBA on Monday.
According to FIBA, this is one of the perks Gilas gets for being the main host of the event's first-ever multiple-nation hosting, that is, the Philippines will host the final stage of the World Cup.
The Philippines, which is co-hosting the event with Japan and Indonesia, will be the site of the FIBA World Cup's knockout stages with all games happening at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue.
Joining Gilas in Pot 1 are the highest-ranked qualified teams after the February window of the qualifying phase.
Meanwhile, USA Basketball will also hold all its games for the FIBA World Cup in the Philippines.
This after the FIBA Central Board approved the suggestions made by the host countries on which teams they want to be with for commercial reasons.
This assures that players from the National Basketball Association (NBA) will be in the Philippines to the delight of the Filipino fans.
However, with world No. 2 USA needing only one win in the Americas qualifiers to book a place in the main tournament, expected to stay within the Top 2 in the FIBA rankings after the February window, Gilas and USA will surely be drawn to different groups during the April 29 draw in the Philippines.
The other two co-hosts will not lack NBA stars as well as Japan will be bringing in Slovenia to its fold in Okinawa, which means Japanese fans will get to see Luka Doncic again two years after the Slovenians' impressive fourth-place stint in the Tokyo Olympics that helped them go up to No. 7 in the FIBA rankings.
Indonesia, on the other hand, has chosen Canada to be the headliner of its first FIBA World Cup hosting stint.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is making a strong case of earning a place in next year's NBA All-Star Game, will lead the Canadians in the FIBA World Cup. (PNA)
