Philippines wakes up to result of Gilas’ first OQT game


Justin Brownlee leads Gilas Pilipinas’ rout of host Latvia to open the Filipinos’ Fiba OQT campaign. –FIBA PHOTO

SCHEDULE: Gilas Pilipinas at Fiba OQT in Riga, Latvia

National coach Tim Cone has made one thing clear months before the tall order Gilas Pilipinas needs to hurdle in the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Latvia.

“I’m a big believer that there are always really hard things to do. But nothing’s impossible,” he had told the Inquirer.

The architect behind last year’s golden romp in the Asian Games in China put that mantra to the test once again on Thursday morning in Manila, when the Philippines wakes up to the result of its National squad opening its OQT stint against Latvia and its home crowd at Arena Riga.

READ: Gilas Pilipinas stuns world No. 6 Latvia to open Fiba OQT bid

Against overwhelming odds, Cone had already asked his crew—led by the indefatigable Justin Brownlee, the World Cup-tested duo of June Mar Fajardo and Japeth Aguilar, and young cornerstones Kai Sotto and Dwight Ramos—to have the immediate goal of making the knockout crossover, where they have a better chance of tabbing an Olympic berth.

“We’re not here to win a game. We’re here to win a tournament. We’re here to win the whole thing,” he was quoted saying during practice in a story published by the PBA website.

“Losing to [Latvia] does not get us knocked out. But losing—if we allow that first one to affect us in the second one (against Georgia), then we’re gonna be knocked out,” he added.

READ: Tim Cone dismisses notion that Gilas not big, fast, strong enough

Cone’s outlook may be the only logical step for the No. 37-ranked Philippines to take, considering how high Latvia is in the global basketball leaderboard.

The hosts are ranked sixth on the planet and lived up to that lofty billing with an 83-55 whipping of world No. 23 Georgia in Group A.

So hapless were the Jvarosnebi that national coach Aleksandar Dzikic and Duda Sanadze had very little to say about their performance.

Latvians flex might

“We didn’t respond well enough and long enough to their physicality and this result in the end is actually quite embarrassing, to be honest,” said Dzikic.

“[W]e’re very disappointed. The score is not what we are and what we worked [for]. We worked hard these past days and some weeks, but this score’s not us. From the bottom of our hearts, I just want to say sorry for our efforts—to our fans and families—because this is not really us,” Sanadze said.

Cone and his charges were witnesses to the merciless Latvian display. And so Gilas also knows how deflated the Georgians are.

And that could spell trouble for the Filipinos, too, as that means the Jvarosnebi will be dead-set on redeeming themselves in their clash set 8:30 p.m. on Thursday (Manila time).

“If we can beat one of those two teams (Latvia or Georgia), that means we can compete in the crossover, [and] you never know from there,” Cone said.



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The Philippines will need at least a win over Georgia to improve its chances of making the next phase, where they could either play Cameroon, Montenegro, or Brazil.

Week 3 Manila, Philippines leg


FILE–Crowd shot during a VNL game at Mall of Asia Arena. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

The Philippines is scheduled to a week of  FIVB Men’s Volleyball Nations League (VNL) for the straight year from June 18 to 23 at Mall of Asia Arena.

Reigning Olympic champion France (world No. 7), fan favorites Japan (No. 3) and USA (No. 5) headline the Week 3 cast in Manila with No. 4 Brazil, No. 11 Germany, No. 12 Canada, No. 13 The Netherlands and No. 17 Iran.

READ: Fan favorites USA, Japan arrive for VNL in Manila

All games are at the Mall of Asia Arena.

France, Japan, Brazil) and Canada are all inside Top 8 of the VNL standings after two legs with reigning world champion Italy, Slovenia and Poland leading the race so fa.

Germany, USA, the Netherlands and Team USA take 11th, 12th, 13th, and 16th places respectively as they aim to climb the ladder entering the homestretch of the preliminary phase.

VNL 2024 Schedule Week 3: Manila, Philippines leg

VNL 2024 Schedule Week 3 Manila, Philippines leg

VNL 2024 schedule of games in Manila.

JUNE 18, Tuesday

  • 5pm – Netherlands vs Brazil
  • 8:30pm –  Canada vs  Japan

JUNE 19, Wednesday 

  • 4pm Germany vs France
  • 7pm Iran vs USA

JUNE 20, Thursday

  • 11 am – Germany vs  Canada — 11:00 a.m.
  • 4pm – Iran vs Netherlands
  • 7pm – Brazil vs USA

JUNE 21, Friday

  • 11am – Iran vs  France
  • 4pm – Canada vs Brazil
  • 7pm – Netherlands vs  Japan

JUNE 22, Saturday

  • 11am – Germany vs  USA
  • 4pm – Canada vs  Netherlands
  • 7pm – France vs Japan

JUNE 23, Sunday

  • 11am – Germany vs  Iran
  • 4pm – France vs  Brazil
  • 7pm – Japan vs USA

Paris Olympics slots could be on the line at VNL

The Top 8 teams after the preliminary phase will qualify for the VNL Final Round in Poland from June 27-30.

With top world teams competing in the VNL– the last volleyball tournament before the Paris Olympics–there could be implications for the qualifying points for the upcoming Summer Games in July.

READ:  VNL: A primer on a world-class tournament



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Five spots based on the FIVB World Rankings are still up for grabs with only seven countries – host France, Germany, Brazil, USA, Japan, Poland and Canada – having booked their Olympic seats so far.