The task at hand is clear for Gilas Pilipinas as they take on Qatar on midnight of February 22 (Manila time). They need a victory to move one step closer to qualifying for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
In the first meeting between the two teams, it did not look pretty for the Philippines as they struggled in the first half against a Qatari team that was smoking hot from the outside. Gilas was down 52-39 at the half but they played much better in the third and fourth quarters when their guards started to pressure their Qatari counterparts.
In the end, the Philippines took home a surprisingly tough 92-81 victory.
A much different team will be representing the Philippines in the rematch as all but one of their double-digit scorers will not be seeing action this time. Other players must step up and fill the void that Alex Cabagnot, Stanley Pringle, and Beau Belga left behind as the three combined for 40 points back in September.
The biggest addition for the Philippines is Andray Blatche as the big man in the middle is back after serving out his three-game suspension and being left out for the game against Iran. He will renew his partnership with Jayson Castro as a duo that's difficult to stop in high ball screen situations.
Another exciting development for Gilas is that Blatche adds another threat from the outside, which should give June Mar Fajardo more room to operate inside. The two have shown that they know how to play alongside each other so this tandem should be very productive for the team.
Shooting was a problem for Gilas in the first game with an atrocious 3 of 32 clip from the three-point range in their last game so that puts a lot of pressure on Marcio Lassiter who is the only pure shooter in the squad. He could get help from Paul Lee, Troy Rosario, and even Castro but the PBA First Mythical Team member needs to stretch the floor with his shooting.
One big weapon that coach Yeng Guiao could use in this game is pressure defense from the guards like what he employed in their first meeting. Although Qatar may be more ready for it, Guiao now has more defensive weapons to work with. Gabe Norwood remains a world-class defender but Scottie Thompson and the additions of Mark Barroca and Thirdy Ravena could really cause troubles for the home team.
Mohd Yousuf Mohmmed should be a marked man for Gilas as he led Qatar in scoring in their first meeting against the Philippines with 26 points while Tanguy Alban Ngombo added a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds while also adding five assists.
Another player Gilas needs to be wary of is Nasser Khalifa Al-Rayes who has never scored in double-digits in the entire FIBA Asian Qualifiers except for the game in the Philippines where he had 17 points.
Statistically, Gilas has all the advantages in this matchup but the area where they can really dominate is bench scoring. Qatar's attack is mostly centered on their first five and if the second unit performs well for the Philippines, then it would be much harder for the Qataris to stay in the game as it'll put so much pressure on their main guys to produce.
Bench scoring, coupled with pressure defense from the guards, should really test Qatar's stamina and therefore their depth.