By REYNALD MAGALLON
Gilas Pilipinas has slipped three spots from its previous place and landed at No.37 in the FIBA World rankings following its seventh place finish in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia last month.
The Nationals, who held the No. 34 spot in the world prior to the continental tiff, finished the tournament with a 2-3 win-loss record after bowing out in the quarterfinals against eventual champion Australia.
Gilas actually had a rough Asia Cup run, dropping its first two games against Chinese Taipei and New Zealand before pulling off a victory against Iraq, barely making it to the qualification for the knockout stage.
There, the Nationals essayed a come-from-behind overtime victory over host Saudi Arabia to reach the Magic 8.
Still, Gilas kept its place as the seventh best team in the Asia-Pacific region behind Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Iran, China and Lebanon. In Asia-Pacific, only the Australian Boomers cracked the top 10, now at the sixth spot, one place higher from its previous place.
Like Gilas, Japan and New Zealand dropped to lower places with the Akatsuki Five sliding down one spot to No.22 while the Tall Backs slipped three spots to No. 25.
Iran and China were two of the risers as Team Melli improved to No.26, followed by Team Dragon at No.27 – three spots higher than its previous ranking of No. 30 after claiming the silver in the Asia Cup.
Lebanon ended seven spots ahead of Gilas at No. 30 while Jordan followed the Nationals in the rankings at No. 38. South Korea is at 57 and the vastly improved Saudi Arabia is at 64.
The biggest leapers in Asia, however, are Guam and Chinese Taipei.
Although still outside the Top 50 in the world, Guam, lead by San Miguel star Jericho Cruz, leaped seven rungs to No. 81 while Chinese Taipei improved six spots to No. 67.
Meanwhile, USA kept its spot at No.1 while Germany, after ruling the EuroBasket behind Franz Wagner and Dennis Schroder, has beaten Serbia for the No.2 spot in the world.
The Serbians, led by Nikola Jokic dropped to No.3 followed by France and Canada to round out the Top 5.
Following Australia at sixth is Spain at No. 7 and Argentina at No. 8. Also cracking the Top 10 are Lithuania and Brazil.
