Less than a year after the Philippine men’s basketball team became the top Asian team and reclaimed supremacy in the region, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas is eyeing its next target in a three-year stretch after the 2027 FIBA World Cup.
“We want to be the top 16 in the world and that is the vision,” said newly-appointed SBP executive director Erika Dy. “The target for that is after the World Cup in 2027. So we need to move up five spots each year.”
The Philippines is currently ranked 37th in the world, moving a notch higher this early part of the year.
Gilas Pilipinas had just won the first two games of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers, beating Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei with ease.
The next window will be played on November 21 and 24 where the Philippines will go up against powerhouse New Zealand and a home game against Hong Kong, but before these two games, the Filipinos will embark on a tougher mission of trying to qualify to the 2024 Paris Games thru the Olympic Qualifying Tournament that will be played in Latvia this July.
Gilas coach Tim Cone earlier told media that they will continue the Olympic quest whether they get it this year for the Paris Games or the multi-sports event to be held in Los Angeles four years from now.
Dy believes the best way for the Philippines to move up in the world rankings is to do well in the OQT where the Filipinos play host team Latvia and Georgia in Group A from July 2 to 7.
“The problem with rankings is you don’t move much unless you beat European teams and we don’t get to play them often,” added Dy. “So I’m really hoping we do well in the OQT where we face European nations in the first round.”
Cone and Gilas Pilipinas might get the opportunity of playing European countries more as the multi-titled coach bared that they received invitations to play Lithuania, Slovenia and Czech Republic.
