Olympic Qualifiers Results: Brazil, Spain, Greece and Puerto Rico Off to Paris!

[UcanUwill]

The all-important Points Difference in this group:

Croatia (1-1): +12
New Zealand (1-0): +4
Slovenia (0-1): -16

To make things simple, Slovenia HAS to beat NZ by 13 points and both Slovenia and Croatia advances:
Slovenia (-16, +11) = -5
Croatia = +12
NZ (+4, -11) = -7

(If SLO beats NZ by exactly 6 points i believe we go to the next tiebreaker which is points scored (have to double check).

New Zealand will just beat Slovenia and my take on +/- ain't meaning jack, will come back full circle

With Croatia and Latvia losing, I wonder is there a real disadvantage here, to play back yo back game against team that plays their first game? That said, i rather play in first two days and have a day off before play offs, but I wonder how todays results were effected by it?

[durden_tyler]

The all-important Points Difference in this group:

Croatia (1-1): +12
New Zealand (1-0): +4
Slovenia (0-1): -16

To make things simple, Slovenia HAS to beat NZ by 13 points and both Slovenia and Croatia advances:
Slovenia (-16, +11) = -5
Croatia = +12
NZ (+4, -11) = -7

(If SLO beats NZ by exactly 6 points i believe we go to the next tiebreaker which is points scored (have to double check).

New Zealand will just beat Slovenia and my take on +/- ain't meaning jack, will come back full circle

With Croatia and Latvia losing, I wonder is there a real disadvantage here, to play back yo back game against team that plays their first game? That said, i rather play in first two days and have a day off before play offs, but I wonder how todays results were effected by it?

Being the weaker team, it works against us because we can't afford two losses obviously. There were even talks that we just lie down and play dead already vs Latvia since the game against Georgia is "more winnable" and that we should just rest our main guys vs Latvia. But yes you are correct, for some teams do you want to play back to back first and get that win and advance and have that rest before the KO round or have the one day rest in between group stage games but be a bit more tired entering that semis.

[durden_tyler]

i expect Latvia's fight back very, very early in the third. This just does not make sense and we're known to fold in these big moments. Again, hoping i am wrong and that we have matured enough and not give up this lead. In case we do, we just hope it's close until the end of the game and maybe we can steal it.

Wouldn't this be the biggest Gilas win ever?

They have world cup bronze....

Yes we did that i think when there were 10 teams participating and half the world does not even play basketball (50s or 60s i think)

[durden_tyler]

We had close losses to Argentina, Croatia in the international level (World Cup 2016 i think) and those would have been the breakthrough wins. It took nearly a decade but this is the biggest one yet (JINXED!) and really what we've gained here is that "maybe we belong here" type of mentality now. (Now watch us lose to Georgia big. LOL).

[UcanUwill]

Wouldn't this be the biggest Gilas win ever?

They have world cup bronze....

Yes we did that i think when there were 10 teams participating and half the world does not even play basketball (50s or 60s i think)

Yes, i cant google now, but i think it was 1954? But the point stands, Pilipinos are famously into basketball, but bad at it, but they arent this bad, where a win against Latvia without Porzingis and Zagars would be greatest win ever. They still cracking medals in Asia, competing and beating China often I believe, and I know its a weak region, but China is not a useless team. Also, just few tournaments ago, Gilas were impressive, I remember they lost to Croatia by like 2 points, Blatche destroying Saric game. And yeah, its s loss and doesnt count, but it shows that Gilas aren't helpless of anything of the sort...
They usually develop good but short guards, with ISO skills but questionable ability to play 5 v 5. It is really different this generation, where their best player is athletic and mobile 7 footer. I know being 7 feet tall in philippines is like being a unicorn.

[durden_tyler]

Only an epic choke job will allow us to give up this W (we are capable of that unfortunately. LOL.)

[durden_tyler]

They have world cup bronze....

Yes we did that i think when there were 10 teams participating and half the world does not even play basketball (50s or 60s i think)

Yes, i cant google now, but i think it was 1954? But the point stands, Pilipinos are famously into basketball, but bad at it, but they arent this bad, where a win against Latvia without Porzingis and Zagars would be greatest win ever. They still cracking medals in Asia, competing and beating China often I believe, and I know its a weak region, but China is not a useless team. Also, just few tournaments ago, Gilas were impressive, I remember they lost to Croatia by like 2 points, Blatche destroying Saric game. And yeah, its s loss and doesnt count, but it shows that Gilas aren't helpless of anything of the sort...
They usually develop good but dhort guards, with ISO skills but questionable ability to play 5 v 5. It is really fifferent this generation, where their best player is athletic and mobile 7 footer. I know being 7 feet tall in philippines is like being a unicorn.

Yes the current unicorn is Kai Sotto (7'1, 7'2 on a good day), who joined the Orlando Magic summer league a coupe of years back, He never got the playing time in that summer league so i am still pissed off at Orlando because we just never know if he has the tools to play at the high level. LOL. He's doing fine with the NT, nothing too special but indeed a need for our hobbit-sized team.

[durden_tyler]

Here comes Latvia.

[durden_tyler]

i need my wine at 2AM here. WOOOOHOOOOO.

[durden_tyler]

Latvia's flopping would have cost us the game if this was a closer lead. Smart smart team flopping all over the floor, good thing we had a comfortable advantage.

[CodeBreaker]

#LabanPilipinas

[UcanUwill]

Sotto is very intriguing. Interesting he plays deep drop coverage. I understand it is probably optimal tactic in this level, but it does seem like he could cause damage switching and blitzing. Legit size and footwork, that block on Timma was Giannis esque. Someone has to sign him from that Japan team.

Timma is cooked, anytime I see him, he is cooked. Last year right before WC, he had that ridiculous game vs Lithuania, where I swear, by the end, even our announcers were just straight mocking the guy. Day later Banchi cuts him from the roster, and that guys calls out the coach on "injustice". Dude, you are just cooked, you do have fabulous custom created player look, but what else you have?

[Nuntius]

i need my wine at 2AM here. WOOOOHOOOOO.

Congratulations, mate. I didn't watch the game but I'm happy for you.

[durden_tyler]

i need my wine at 2AM here. WOOOOHOOOOO.

Congratulations, mate. I didn't watch the game but I'm happy for you.

Thanks. Am ecstatic for myself too. LOL. We probably will lose in the semis or finals and not make the Olympics but indeed this was a big boost to our struggling basketball program. At least now we know we can hang with some good international teams if we play the right way.

Heck we’re not even guaranteed to advance to the next round, i believe we should NOT LOSE by more than 19 pts vs Georgia or we’ll still be the third ranked team per FIBA tiebreakers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bisme37]

Congrats Phillipines!

[RookieStar]

wow!! Any chance to watch a fullgame replay of that game? PHI vs SLO?

[RookieStar]

I mean... when I saw a James Bond Villain with the bleached hair, I knew Summer League Magic legend was gonna make the game epic

[Nuntius]

wow!! Any chance to watch a fullgame replay of that game? PHI vs SLO?

There was no Philippines vs Slovenia game. Philippines played (and beat) Latvia while Slovenia played (and lost to) Croatia.

As for replays, they are probably available on Courtside 1891, the official streaming service of the games. It's not free, though, it's subscription-based. Courtside 1891 also runs on DAZN so you could find it in there as well but I've never used either site so I have no idea how they work.

[RookieStar]

wow!! Any chance to watch a fullgame replay of that game? PHI vs SLO?

There was no Philippines vs Slovenia game. Philippines played (and beat) Latvia while Slovenia played (and lost to) Croatia.

As for replays, they are probably available on Courtside 1891, the official streaming service of the games. It's not free, though, it's subscription-based. Courtside 1891 also runs on DAZN so you could find it in there as well but I've never used either site so I have no idea how they work.

Sorry I meant Latvia

[Nuntius]

Looks like Angola held their own against Spain. Good to see.