Philippines joins USA in Group A of FIBA U17 Championship draw

MANILA, Philippines – Team Philippines will meet Team USA this year after all.

FIBA completed its draw for 16 participating teams in the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates slated on August 8 to 16 in the Middle Eastern nation.

Team Philippines was placed in Group A, joining youngsters from the United States, Angola, and Greece.

The Philippine youth squad qualified in the World U-17 cage-fest by beating Chinese Taipei, 77-72 in the semifinals of the FIBA Asia U-16 games in Iran last October 2013.

In Group B are Japan, France, Canada, and Australia. Host squad UAE will be in Group C together with Puerto Rico, Italy, and Spain.

Rounding out the list are Argentina, Serbia, China, and Egypt in Group D.

Here are the Preliminary Round groups of the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship for Men! #FIBAU17 pic.twitter.com/a2n8ruTBU6

— FIBA (@FIBA) February 12, 2014

Groups will play a single round robin to determine placings at the start of the knockout quarterfinals, where all games will be do or die.

The PH Youth squad is mentored by coach Jamike Jarin and is expected to be bannered by the likes of Mike Nieto, Prince Rivero, SEABA U-16 MVP Jolo Mendoza, Paul Desiderio, and more promising youth stars.

The Demonte Flannigan-led Team USA defeated the Kobe Paras and Arvin Tolentino-bannered Philippine team in the FIBA 3×3 U-18 tournament in Indonesia, 21-14 last September 2013.

Last week, FIBA held the draw for the World Cup of Basketball in Spain, where Gilas Pilipinas landed in Group B. – Rappler.com