Kazakhstan to test Gilas mettle in early Manila tune-up

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas has got an additional tune-up match to boost its buildup for the 27th FIBA Asia Championship with Kazakhstan agreeing to come early and play the Philippine team in a warm-up tiff on July 26 either at the MOA Arena or at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

It’s an interesting game considering Gilas Pilipinas and Kazakhstan are potential rivals in the quarterfinal round of the Asian world qualifier slated Aug. 1-11 at the MOA Arena in Pasay and at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.

Three days before its Kazakh game, Gilas Pilipinas tangles with a PBA selection also either at MOA or at the Big Dome.

Cancelled is Gilas’ “Luz-Vi-Min” series with the PBA All Stars as Gilas officials needed to adjust the team’s training schedule fitted with the Gilas trip to New Zealand on July 8-18.

“Schedule, playing venue and everything with regards Gilas’ exhibition games versus the PBA All Stars and Kazakhstan will be finalized in a meeting Monday,” PBA media bureau chief Willie Marcial told The STAR.

Originally, Gilas was to play a Franz Pumaren-coached PBA selection in a three-game series in Davao, Cebu and Manila in the closing stage of Team Philippines’ preparation for the Asian joust.

This series was dropped from Gilas’ itinerary as Gilas officials junked a supposed Las Vegas journey in favor of a trip to New Zealand.

A welcome addition in Gilas’ calendar of activities is the tune-up versus the Kazakhs, five days before the opening of the FIBA Asia event.

Should Gilas top its bracket (Groups A and B), it’s likely to meet Kazakhstan in the opener of the knockout stage.

The Kazakhs are tipped to finish fourth behind the Chinese, the Iranians and the Koreans in their own bracket (Groups C and D).

A tall team with decent outside gunners, Kazakhstan is the No. 1 team from Central Asia which once finished third in the Asian Games and fourth in FIBA Asia Championship.

The Philippines beat Kazakhstan for bronze medal in the 1998 Bangkok Asiad but the Kazakhs got back at the Filipinos, also in the fight for bronze, in the next Asiad in Busan.

In 2007, the Kazakhs made it two in a row versus the Filipinos, beating the Phl team in their Jones Cup meeting in Taipei.

In the succeeding FIBA Asia tourney in Tokushima, Japan, the Philippines failed to make it past the preliminary round while Kazakhstan went all the way to the semifinals.

The Kazakhs, however, dropped to ninth in 2009 in Tianjin and didn’t compete in Wuhan in 2011.