D-Day for Olympic qualifiers

MIES – It’s Draw Day for the Olympic qualifiers at the FIBA House of Basketball in this Swiss city, about a 10-minute drive from Geneva, and representatives of at least 15 of the 18 participating countries are expected to witness the dispersal of six to each of the three tournaments in a program starting 6:30 tonight (1:30 a.m. tomorrow, Manila time).

SBP executive director Sonny Barrios will attend the draw for the Philippines, one of three Asian countries playing in the Olympic qualifiers. Barrios left Manila after midnight yesterday and will return Thursday night. Aside from witnessing the draw, Barrios will also confer with FIBA director of events Predrag Bogosevljev on matters relating to Manila hosting one of the Olympic qualifiers at the Mall of Asia Arena on July 4-10.

No details on the conduct of the draw were available at presstime only that it will be a modified, not an open, process based on geographical and quality considerations. Barrios speculated that at least two European countries will be in the Philippine group since eight of the 18 participating countries are from Europe. He said under the principle of geographic dispersal, the Philippine group will also include a team from Africa and a team from the Americas. It is also possible that New Zealand from Oceania will be in the group because of proximity to Asia.

The eight European countries (with their FIBA world ranking) are No. 5 France, No. 6 Serbia, No. 8 Turkey, No. 10 Greece, No. 12 Croatia, joint No. 35 Italy and Latvia and No. 42 Czech Republic. The three Asian countries are No. 17 Iran, No. 28 Philippines and No. 48 Japan. The three African countries are No. 15 Angola, No. 23 Tunisia and No. 31 Senegal. New Zealand is ranked No. 21.

“If you notice, there are only five countries ranked below the Philippines and three are from Europe, including the Czech Republic,” said Barrios. “Four of the 18 participating countries are in the world’s top 10. Definitely, we’re in for a tough challenge, tougher than what we faced at the FIBA Asia Championships in Changsha last year. This is a world-class competition, not an exhibition, not a pocket tournament, not a tune-up. At stake is a ticket to Rio and we all know how important it is for us to make it back to the Olympics since 1972.”

Barrios said SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan pursued the Philippine bid to host the Olympic qualifier because of its impact on the country. “All MVP wants is to make all of us Filipinos happy and proud,” he said. “This is to honor our country, to show the world we’re capable of hosting an event of this significance.”

The minimum bid to host the Olympic qualifier was 1.8 million Euros. Under FIBA’s rules of confidentiality, no details were available on how much were the winning bids of the Philippines, Italy and Serbia.

Gilas national coach Tab Baldwin said the other day his hope is Greece won’t be drawn in the Philippine group. At the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain, Greece beat the Philippines, 82-70 and it was the only game where Gilas had difficulty matching up. “If they pull Greece, tell them to put it back,” said Baldwin jokingly. Baldwin, however, didn’t indicate which teams he preferred to be in the Philippine bracket.

The Philippines has played in only one Olympic qualifier so far and failed to make it to the Tokyo Games out of Yokohama in 1964. But Barrios said it will be a different story this year because Manila is hosting. “Our chances are slim, we admit it,” he said. “Still, we’ve got our Sixth Man, the world’s Most Valuable Fans and it’s an advantage that could tilt the balance.”

Barrios said in 1978, Manila hosted the FIBA World Cup and the Araneta Coliseum was packed to the rafters in the final between Russia and Yugoslavia. “Neither the Philippines nor the US was in the final but tickets were sold out just the same because we love our basketball unconditionally,” said Barrios. “We’re a basketball-crazy country and we’re proud of it. The day after it was announced that Manila won the bid to host one of the Olympic qualifiers, I already got inquiries about tickets. A friend from Bacolod, Tony Agustin, reserved eight tickets for every day and we still don’t know who are playing in our bracket.”

Barrios said on his agenda to discuss with FIBA are the hosting details and the draw. As for the possibility of Jordan Clarkson playing for the Philippines in the Olympic qualifier, Barrios said it’s an issue to be taken up at a different forum and on a higher level.

Barrios said the draw will be shown via live streaming on sports5.ph and called on Filipino fans to follow the proceedings early tomorrow morning.  “This is a rare and golden opportunity for Filipino fans to witness world-class competition,” he said. “My view is the Olympic qualifier is as important to us as when we hosted the FIBA World Cup in 1978. There are only six countries playing, including the Philippines, so we will welcome five foreign countries. It’s our chance to show the world our organizational skills and our Filipino hospitality. We will give our visitors an unforgettable experience. We will show FIBA what we could do on this scale if we won the hosting rights for the 2019 FIBA World Cup. We are grateful to FIBA for this chance to host a world tournament where the winner will advance to the Rio Olympics.”