Serbian sportswriter believes Gilas beating Italy by 13 points is ‘doable’

Gilas Pilipinas is technically still not out of the race to advance to the second round of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, though they will need a lot of things to break right for them.

Aside from needing an Angola loss in the 4 p.m. game on Tuesday to have any shot at second place in Group A, the Philippines also needs to beat a favored Italy team by at least 13 points for them to force a three-way tie at win any potential tiebreak.

Milos Jovanovic, a veteran Serbian sportswriter and a close follower of Philippine basketball believes beating the world’s number 10 Italy by 13 points is a task that's "doable" for Gilas Pilipinas.

“Is that doable? absolutely. Is it likely? Not really. But it can be done,”  Jovanovic said.

Read more | FIBA World Cup Preview: A Serbian correspondent breaks down Gilas Pilipinas vs Italy

But Jovanovic added that Gilas needs to play a perfect game to pull off an upset.

He said that Gilas could stand a chance if they could limit Italy’s perimeter game.

“The thing is they need to focus, they really need to focus. And if Italy starts missing those jump shots, it's gonna be a ball game, you know. And if Gilas jump shots start falling, of course.”

Gilas, according to him, could replicate what the Dominican Republic did in their win against Italy where they limited the Azzurri squad to 7-for-29 shooting from the three-point line.

“[Italy] will just heavily rely on their jump shooting. They gonna try and barrage you to the top and they are like six and seven players. Once they move away from the rotation of six, seven players that are not the same quality, they will start missing.”

Jovanovic also believes that Gilas could have the edge inside the paint against the Italians.

“[Gilas] need to bring some physicality to the fold. I like what June Mar Fajardo is bringing and I like when Japeth Aguilar is on the floor. Kai Sotto I think he needs to get more involved in the physical part of the play.”

“But luckily, the Italians are not exactly a good rebounding team or a physical team.”

Gilas Pilipinas and Italy will square off this Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News