Gilas youth collides with Kuwait, Japan in busy start to FIBA U-16 Asian tiff

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas youth team battles Kuwait and Japan in back-to-back games in less than 24 hours to fire off its return to international action in the 2022 FIBA U16 Asian Championship in Doha, Qatar.

Led by Filipino-American standout Caelum Harris, the national teen cagers clash against Kuwait at 1:15 a.m. followed by a big duel versus powerhouse Japan at 8:45 p.m. in Pool C. Both games are in Manila times.

Gilas youth needs to finish on top of its group to advance straight into the quarterfinals and dodge a crossover pairing against reigning champion Australia. Otherwise, Gilas would still go through a qualification among second and third-seeded squads.

That mission is anticipated to not be a walk in the park as Gilas marches into its first international action after three years in the post-Kai Sotto era.

“We’re not the same youth team that qualified for two World Cups when we had an obvious focal point in Kai. It has to be a total team effort for us. This time, we will try and we have to win games as a collective unit,” said coach Josh Reyes.

“Kuwait is a tough team and especially Japan, which has been preparing for quite a long time. They had everything in place. It will be a tough task for us,” he added.

The tourney, which is a qualifier to the FIBA U17 World Cup in Spain next month, also marks Reyes’ return to the Gilas youth program after steering the Sotto-led squad to the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup.

Gilas youth under Sotto’s leadership also made it to the 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup for a golden era highlighted by multiple podium finishes in the Asian tilt. 

In this year's new Gilas youth batch, Harris is joined by Lebron Nieto, Jared Bahay, Mikhail Romero, Zain Mahmood, Alexander Konov, Lorenzo Competente, Jacob Bayla, Apl Mcandrei Gemao, Jayden Jones, Kristian Porter and Sebastian Reyes.

The team was selected from a series of tryouts featuring over 40 prospects here and abroad without the presence of youth competitions in the country due to pandemic restrictions.