How prepared is Gilas Pilipinas?
Sure, most of them have played together in the Asian Qualifiers, but with the stakes this high, cohesion has never been more paramount
As of this writing, Gilas Pilipinas head coach Yeng Guiao finally got his wish: A complete pool of players for the national team's practice session at the Meralco Gym in Pasig.
By that, I mean that the final three players on his pool for the quadrennial event finally showed up. Freshly minted Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner's Cup champion June Mar Fajardo attended practice together with two key players from TNT KaTropa — Troy Rosario and RR Pogoy.
Fajardo himself had to skip the Beermen's championship celebration and chose to prioritize Gilas Pilipinas practice.
Does this mean that Gilas is finally 100 percent ready for the battles they will wage at the World Cup in China? Well, yes and no.
Having Fajardo, Rosario and Pogoy certainly puts the team in a better position than before, but the situation is still very far from ideal.
With their first game tipping off on 31 August, Gilas, by the time this column comes out, has a little more than a handful of days left to get ready for their Day 1 opponents, Italy.
Now, Italy isn't considered among the major title contenders, but with bona fide NBA talents like Marco Belinelli and Danilo Gallinari leading the way, the Azzurri will still be the odds-on favorites to prevail in their encounter in the city of Foshan.
Next up for Gilas will be Serbia, which is tagged as the second seed in the entire field right behind a depleted Team USA.
Bannered by Nikola Jokic, Boban Marjanovic, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Milos Teodosic, Serbia is pegged to be a prime medal contender to be the runaway top team in the group.
Gilas will finish their group stage campaign against African side Angola, which cannot be overlooked despite having no NBA players.
Angola has been a continental powerhouse for a very long time, and it will see action in its fifth World Cup in a row.
Now, granted that the remaining timetable for Gilas' training is way too short, the team still has the potential to notch a win or two in the group stage, buck the odds and maybe barge into the second round.
We have former Chinese Basketball Association champion Andray Blatche alongside five-time PBA Most Valuable Player Fajardo anchoring the frontline while the come-backing Kiefer Ravena is expected to make a big splash together with Pogoy and Gabe Norwood at the perimeter.
That's far from the deepest quintet in international hoops, yes, but they can compete out there and, on a good day, maybe even pull the rug from under our more ballyhooed foes.
One critical element will be how fast the team can gel together before they face Italy.
Sure, most of them have played together in the Asian Qualifiers, but with the stakes this high, cohesion has never been more paramount.
So, is Gilas Pilipinas primed and ready to take on the world?