GILAS Pilipinas doesn't only need to defeat Italy on Tuesday to stay in contention for the next round of the FIBA World Cup group phase.
The Filipinos have to beat the Azzurri black and blue in order to have a fighting chance of making it to the second round, slim as it may.
Winless in two games so far in the opening round, Gilas faces the daunting task of winning over the no. 10 ranked team in the world by 13 points or more if it is to create a three-way tie for the final and no. 2 berth in Group A.
Following a frustrating 80-70 loss to Angola Sunday night, the host will go to the 8 p.m. game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum carrying a -16 point differential.
Italy and Angola, which are tied at 1-1 behind undefeated Dominican Republic (2-0), have a +9 and -4 point differential, respectively.
Sponsored content: At the same time, Gilas also needs a Dominican Republic win over Angola in the 4 p.m. curtain raiser to keep its flickering hopes alive.
History unfortunately, is not on the side of the Philippines.
In two previous World Cup meetings with Italy, the Filipinos lost both games by an average margin of 35 points, including a 108-62 blowout in the 2019 edition of the tournament held in China.
Coach Chot Reyes is aware of the difficult path the national team has to take similar to a camel going through the eye of a needle.
But a slim chance remains, and as they say, hope springs eternal.
Sponsored content: "We have to focus on the present and prepare for Italy. We can't be emotional at this time when we have one more game left to focus on," he said.
An expected sidebar to the Gilas-Italy showdown is the meeting between Utah Jazz teammates Jordan Clarkson and Simone Fontecchio.
A loss by the national team will relegate it to the classification phase. (RG)
