The Philippine national men’s basketball team, Gilas Pilipinas will go up against its Asian rival and considered as the toughest team in the region, the national team of Iran. The Gilas Pilipinas vs. Iran game will be held on June 8, 2016 at around 7:00 PM.
Before the highly anticipated tune-up games between Iran and the Philippines, both teams met in an unconventional closed-door game on Tuesday night. The two squads played a total of four quarters but the scores were reset to zero at the end of each period.
According to Gilas head coach Tab Baldwin, during their first tune-up games on Tuesday, the Iranian wanted a different format which is considered as just a scrimmage, giving the coaches opportunities to work on situations.
Gilas Pilipinas won the first quarter (21-13) and third quarter (17-16) while the Iranians took the second quarter (16-15) and fourth quarter (19-18) but overall, the unofficial tally was at 71-64 in favor of the Filipinos.
The highly anticipated tune-up games of Gilas Pilipinas against one of the toughest team in Asia, the Iranian national basketball team is part of the national team’s preparation for the Rio Olympics Qualifying Round wherein the country will face against some of the world’s toughest national basketball team.
The Philippines is bracketed with France, Canada, Turkey, Senegal and New Zealand in the Manila edition of the Rio Olypmics Qualifiers for basketball competition. In the bracket of the Philippines they will go up against 5th ranked team France, 8th ranked Turkey, 21st ranked New Zealand, and 26th ranked Canada while the Philippines is ranked 28th worldwide by FIBA. Senegal is the only team in the bracket of Gilas that is ranked lower compared to the Philippines, the team is ranked at 31st.
