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FIBA: After giving Serbia a scare, Gilas turns focus on Dominican Republic

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/life/07/01/20210701-dominican-republic-fiba.jpg"/><figcaption>The Dominican Republic, like Gilas Pilipinas, is seeking to bounce back from a loss to Serbia and qualify for the semifinals of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. <em>FIBA.basketball</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Gilas Pilipinas will look to build on their confidence-boosting effort against Serbia when they take on the Dominican Republic in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Friday at the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in Belgrade.</p><p>The Philippines, a team composed of amateur standouts, gave powerhouse Serbia a huge scare in their game on Thursday before falling short, 83-76.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/01/21/fiba-gallant-gilas-bows-to-powerhouse-serbia-in-olympic-qualifiers">READ: Gallant Gilas bows to powerhouse Serbia in Olympic qualifiers</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/01/21/fiba-coach-tab-rues-late-misses-but-proud-of-gilas-effort-vs-serbia">READ: Coach Tab rues late misses, but proud of Gilas effort vs. Serbia</a></li></ul><p>Gilas&#x27; effort was widely praised by Filipinos who watched the contest in the early hours of the morning, but the loss nonetheless means that the team is now in a must-win situation heading into their game against the Dominican Republic.</p><p>The Dominican Republic also has its backs against the wall, having lost to Serbia, 94-76, in its first game.</p><p>The winner of Friday morning&#x27;s contest will advance to the crossover semifinals to take on either Italy or Puerto Rico.</p><p>&quot;This is gonna sound cliche and I apologize for that, but we do take games one at a time,&quot; Gilas coach Tab Baldwin said, when asked for his thoughts on their next assignment.</p><p>&quot;We haven&#x27;t even begun to look at Dominican (Republic) yet,&quot; he admitted.</p><p>The Gilas coaching staff spent the night and Thursday planning for Dominican Republic, but Baldwin stressed that what&#x27;s most crucial is for them to recover physically. </p><p>The Dominican Republic will have the advantage of one day&#x27;s rest, while Gilas will play back-to-back games.</p><p>&quot;We&#x27;ve gotta get ourselves physically ready to play. &#x27;Cause this is a tough game, and it will take a lot out of the players,&quot; said Baldwin. &quot;Both physically and mentally, we&#x27;ve got a quick turnaround, so it&#x27;s not gonna be easy.&quot; </p><p>The Dominican Republic is ranked 19th in the world by FIBA, and features several players who suit up in European leagues. </p><p>There is some history between Gilas and the Dominican Republic, as the teams figured in a tune-up before the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, which the Dominican Republic won, 86-79.</p><p>Eloy Vargas and Victor Liz, who saw action in that tune-up game, remain in the lineup for the Dominican Republic. Liz, along with Michael Torres Cuevas, led them in scoring against Serbia with 16 points each. </p><p>Game time is at 2:30 a.m. </p><p>Only the winner of the qualifiers will secure a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics. </p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1708518" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>Gilas Pilipinas will look to build on their confidence-boosting effort against Serbia when they take on the Dominican Republic in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.</p>

Gilas Pilipinas will look to build on their confidence-boosting effort against Serbia when they take on the Dominican Republic in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

FIBA: After giving Serbia a scare, Gilas turns focus on Dominican Republic

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FIBA: After giving Serbia a scare, Gilas turns focus on Dominican Republic

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 01, 2021 06:09 PM PHT

Read More:

FIBA

FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament

Dominican Republic

Gilas Pilipinas

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