Gilas Pilipinas’ hardcourt return may happen sooner than later.

FIBA announced on Friday, September 18, that the next two windows of the Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers will be staged in several bubbles instead of the original home-and-away format.

Each bubble will consist of one or two classification groups or 4 or 8 teams, depending on the decision of the Asia Cup organizers.

FIBA said the bubble hosts will be determined at the regional level and will be announced in due time.

Gilas Pilipinas, which carries a 1-0 record after crushing Indonesia (0-2) by 30 points in the maiden window, is initially slated to face Group A leader South Korea (2-0) and Thailand (0-1) in November.

The Philippines will then meet Korea and Indonesia again in February according to the FIBA schedule.

With several amateur stars composing the Asia Cup pool, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas needs to secure the approval of the Inter-Agency Task Force first before Gilas Pilipinas can train again. – Rappler.com