MANILA, Philippines -- Gilas Pilipinas took another huge step in the right direction with back-to-back victories in the fourth window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, adding a 68-56 triumph over Iran on Sunday evening at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Philippines remained in fifth place in Group E of the second round, but the victory allowed Gilas to trim the gap to just one game behind third-placed Iran and Jordan at 5-3.
More importantly, the two wins gave the Philippines some much-needed momentum in its bid to qualify for the World Cup for a fourth consecutive time.
And while the offense continued to find its footing, particularly with the return of Kai Sotto, it was the other end of the floor that once again proved to be Gilas' biggest weapon.
Here's how Gilas' defence became the main difference in the victory.
Iran's main scorers were limited
In Iran's narrow 93-91 overtime loss to New Zealand, Team Melli had four players score in double figures, led by Mati Aghajanpour's 19 points on four triples.
Seyed Jafari added 14, while Asian Qualifiers debutants Mohammad Amini and veteran Mohammad Jamshidi chipped in 16 and 12 points, respectively.
However, none of them were able to establish any sort of offensive rhythm against Gilas. Most notably, 21-year-old Amini, one of Iran's brightest young talents, was held to just seven points on an abysmal 2-for-15 shooting from the field.
The difference was not simply that Gilas contested his shots. The Philippines consistently took away what Amini wanted to do.
Amini's biggest strength is his ability to attack downhill and get into the paint, forcing defenses to collapse before either finishing himself or creating opportunities for his teammates.
So Gilas made it a priority to neutralize him at the point of attack, which became the culprit to his 0-for-7 outside sniping for the game.
Although Iran guard Mobin Sheikhi had a surprise career-high 21-point performance in this matchup, for head coach Tim Cone, it simply came down to knowing Iran's personnel and taking away its primary strengths.
"Our guys really did a good job of identifying who we had to guard. We were really shocked by [Sheikhi] because he came out and hit some shots we didn't expect him to hit," Cone said.
"But Aghajanpour, I thought KQ did a really good job of shadowing him all game long and CJay came in and did the same thing. We knew Amini wasn't a great shooter, but he's getting to the rim and I thought we did a good job of keeping the ball in front."
But just like their previous assignment against Jordan, the ability of AJ Edu to hedge and Kai Sotto be a presence at the rim at the drop helped them get away from another slow start in the first quarter that saw them trail 18-7 and with Iran finishing with a 25.8% clip from beyond the arc.
"In the beginning of the game, they were getting some nice pull-ups in some ball screens, but the big guys adjusted and got up on screens and they couldn't get to those shots anymore," Cone said.
"It was just a smart, smart basketball game by our players."
Can their defense continue to pick up?
With two more windows left before the World Cup, Gilas can now control their destiny, thanks to their stingy defense.
As the Philippines held Jordan to only 37 points in the second half and in overtime, they also limited Iran to just 56, well below Team Melli's 77.6-point scoring average in the Asian Qualifiers.
But perhaps the more telling number is the opposition's efficiency. Across the two games, the Philippines allowed opponents to shoot just 36% from the field.
That is not simply a product of missed shots. It is the result of consistently forcing opponents away from their preferred areas.
And with the Philippines now just one game behind the third spot in Group E and the reality of having an inconsistent scoring, that defensive identity could prove to be the difference between simply staying alive in the qualifiers and actually making another run at it for the World Cup.
