Philippines

The second day of group play in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup starts with a rematch of the 2015 championship game. Two years ago, host China defeated Gilas Pilipinas 78-67 to win the tournament. On Wednesday, the squads will play their first games of the 2017 event against each other.

Unfortunately, both teams are missing a pair of interior powerhouses. The group from the Philippines is without June Mar Fajardo and naturalized player Andray Blatche, while Yi Jianlian and Zhou Qi will also not be participating.

Which of the teams will start its group play schedule with a win? Let's break down the matchup. But first, we'll review the specifics of the game and how to watch it online.

                    

Time and Live-Stream Information

Date: Wednesday, August 9

Time: 6:30 a.m. ET (1:30 p.m. local time)

Location: Nouhad Nawfal Stadium in Beirut, Lebanon

Live Stream: LiveBasketball.TV

                   

Game Preview

These teams will both be weaker without the giants on either side, and neither should be expected to play as well as it did two years ago. Per Rappler.com, Fajardo's timeline for his calf injury from when he injured it (August 4) lasts about two weeks, which means he might be available right at the end of the tournament. Regardless, he won't be playing Wednesday.

Gilas Pilipinas enters this tournament with an average height of just 6'3", per FIBA.com, which includes the 6'9" size of Fajardo. Their top three returning scorers from the 2015 tournament (Jayson William, Terrence Romeo and Calvin Abueva) are all under six feet tall. That trio has a bunch of skill on the offensive end of the floor, but the lack of size is important.

The pressure will be on players like 6'10" Japeth Aguilar, 6'7" Raymond Almazan and 6'7" Christian Standhardinger to hold their own on the interior against mostly bigger players. Like many of their teammates, Almazan and Standhardinger both have little experience on the international level.

Additionally, the team has had difficulty finding time to practice as a unit because of players' schedules with the Philippine Basketball Association, according to Rick Olivares of Philstar.com. There are a lot of factors stacked against the group.

For what it's worth, Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes remains undaunted by his team's challenges:

https://twitter.com/coachot/status/893430931096182784

China should remain a strong team, despite being without Yi and Zhou and not having a ton of international experience. The squad has an average height of 6'7", which is where we should start when discussing how it matches up against the Philippines.

One potential matchup nightmare to note is Han "Chinese Shaq" Dejun. The Chinese Center is 7'1" and 320 pounds and could eat up Gilas Pilipinas on the boards. There are five other players on the roster above 6'7".

China's best player, though, is 23-year-old Guo Ailun. In May, the 6'4" point guard became the first Chinese player to sign with the Jordan Brand. He's a skilled, quick point guard who dwarfs his counterparts from the Philippines.

Guo (19 points on 5-of-12 shooting) dominated 31-year-old William of the Philippines (eight points on 3-of-14 shooting) in the 2015 championship game. Guo is closer to his prime now, and William is further from his, which means the winner of that matchup shouldn't be any different this time around.

                 

Final Prediction

Gilas Pilipinas will attempt to speed up the pace of the game to take advantage of its high-scoring guards and neutralize the huge rebounding edge China will inevitably have.

Ultimately, though, China's size will be too much. With Guo, there's also plenty of skill in the backcourt to match that of Gilas Pilipinas' backcourt.

Score prediction: China 93, Gilas Pilapinas 70

Manny Pacquiao has declined the opportunity to come out of retirement to fight for the Philippines at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, according to Ryan Songalia of RingTV.com.

Ed Picson, the executive director of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP), said that a Pacquiao representative told him the fighter will "prioritize his legislative duties," per Songalia.

"ABAP respects Sen. Manny's decision and wishes him well in his work in the senate," Picson added.

Pacquiao, 37, retired in April after defeating Timothy Bradley by a unanimous decision, knocking him down twice in the fight, the first time Bradley has been taken to the mat more than once.

"I've committed to my family that after this fight I will spend more time with them and focus to serve the people of the Philippines," Pacquiao said after that fight, per Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times. "That is my priority."

He appeared to be seriously contemplating a trip to Rio to compete in the Olympics, however, amid a potential new rule that would allow professionals to fight alongside amateurs in the sport in Rio.

"I need to ask the Filipino people if they will let me compete," he said in a press conference this week, per Martin Rogers of USA Today. "I offer it as a gesture to the country."

Pacquiao certainly has little left to accomplish in the world of boxing. He finished his career 58-6-2 (38 knockouts), won titles in eight different weight classes and will be remembered as one of the most dominant fighters of his generation.

His involvement in the Olympics would have been seen as a positive sign that Pacquiao might fight professionally at least one more time. That would at least keep the door ajar for the possible rematch that many in the sport are clamoring to see, another bout against Floyd Mayweather. 

Both fighters have maintained that they are retired, though given the immense profits the first fight generated—and the fact that the matchup was marred by Pacquiao's shoulder injury—it isn't hard to envision a scenario where the pair would agree to fight each other again. 

For the time being, however, Pacquiao seems content to spend time with his family and focus on his new profession as a Philippine senator.

 

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.   

The PBA Philippine Cup is swinging into high gear this week and will continue on through Dec. 9. There are a total of 66 games during the single-round elimination, round-robin portion of the event. You can see the entire schedule for the round-robin games at PBA-online.net.

There are 12 total teams in the event, and all teams will meet head-to-head once. Here's a list of the teams included in the competition:

Teams	Total Championships	Last Title
Alaska Aces	3	2000
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel	3	2006-07
Kia Sorento
Meralco Bolts
NLEX Road Warriors
San Miguel Beermen	4	2001
Barako Bull Energy
Blackwater Elite
GlobalPort Batang Pier
Purefoods Star Hotshots	6	2013-14
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters
Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters	5	2012-13

The teams will be seeded based on their win-loss records in the head-to-head competitions. In the case of a tie, point differential decides which team has the higher seed.

The two teams with the best record will bypass the wild-card and quarterfinal rounds. The bottom two teams will be eliminated. 

Wild-card rounds consist of the eight teams seeded beneath the top two and above the bottom squads that failed to qualify for advancement.  

The wild-card round is slanted in favor of the higher seeds. Teams seeded from Nos. 3-6 will have two opportunities to eliminate its opponent. If the lower seed wins the first two games, it will advance. Here's how those matchups will be structured:

• Wild card 1: No. 3 vs. No. 10
• Wild card 2: No. 4 vs. No. 9
• Wild card 3: No. 5 vs. No. 8
• Wild card 4: No. 6 vs. No. 7

The winners of the wild-card round will advance to the best-of-three quarterfinal round. In that round, the winner from WC1 will face the winner of WC4, while WC2's victor will play WC3.

The semifinal round ushers back the top two seeds from the single-elimination opening round back into the mix. The top seed faces the winner from the first quarterfinals matchup. The second seed meets the other quarterfinals winner. Both of these matchups are best-of-seven series.

So too is the final round that determines the champion of the Philippine Cup.

Distinctive Structure

This event does not allow the teams included to hire foreign players or to use imports, a distinction which sets the Philippine Cup apart from other basketball tournaments that take place outside of the United States.

It helps to firmly establish the sport's growing popularity in the Philippines by giving local stars a national platform to display their talents.

Teams to Watch

Purefoods

The reigning and defending champions are still one of the teams that figures to advance deep into the tournament, but a recent injury does complicate their journey. Ian Sangalang partially tore his ACL, per ABS-CBS News, and his absence will be felt by the team in the Philippine Cup.

Per the report, Sangalang is expected to miss six months, which would keep him out of action for the entire tournament. The 6'8", 22-year-old was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2013 PBA draft and was a key contributor to his team's drive toward a title in the last Philippine Cup. As a rookie last season, he averaged 7.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest.

Even more was expected of him this year. It will be interesting to see if Purefoods can replace his production in the paint.

Talk 'N Text

Talk 'N Text has won five Philippine Cups. Only Purefoods has won more in the history of the competition. The squad didn't get off to a strong start in the round-robin play, though.

IN PHOTOS: Barangay Ginebra defeated Talk 'N Text with a 101-81 win http://t.co/YXiBTsmHDD http://t.co/E4sjvAIbqP #PBA2015

— Barangay Ginebra (@barangayginebra) October 20, 2014

It was blown out 101-81 by Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on the opening day of play. Talk 'N Text shot just 20 percent from the field and was outrebounded 63-50. If the team wants to add to its championship total, it'll need to shore up its shooting and rebounding efficiently.