Gilas Pilipinas is back at the Mall of Asia Arena at the end of this month, and the arithmetic is not friendly.

Gilas at the 2014 World Cup in Spain, against Croatia. Photo: Leo Hidalgo (@yompyz), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Where the campaign stands:

• Gilas came out of the first round of the FIBA World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers at 2-4, third in Group A behind Australia (6-0) and New Zealand (4-2). Third place was enough to go through.
• The second round carries every result over, so that 2-4 travels with the team. Twelve teams in two groups of six; Gilas is in Group E and plays the sides that came out of the other first-round group, home and away.
• The window opens at home: Jordan on August 28 and Iran on August 30, both at MOA Arena. Both of them finished their first round at 5-1.
• Two more windows follow, in November 2026 and February 2027, with the qualifiers wrapping up in March 2027.
• Asia has eight places at the 2027 World Cup, one of them Qatar's as host. The top three in each second-round group, plus the best fourth-placed team, take the rest.

Iran have played in this building before — here against China at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship, MOA Arena. Photo: WayKurat, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What we would like to hear from you:

1. Is a 2-4 carry-over recoverable, or does Gilas have to win both home games to stay in this?
2. What is the actual problem — size in the frontcourt, the guard rotation, the coaching, or a calendar that never gives the team enough time together?
3. Who do you want on the 12 for this window, and who would you leave out?
4. Not a basketball person? The Asian Games open in Aichi-Nagoya on September 19 — which Filipino athletes are you watching there?

The same floor in September 2023, for the World Cup bronze medal game between the USA and Canada. Photo: Salmonpepperrice, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Ground rules: argue the game, not the person replying to you. No slurs and no personal attacks on players or officials. If you are citing a stat or a report, link it — and corrections to the summary above are welcome with a source.