Gilas Pilipinas: Continental Cup Qualifiers offensive juggernauts?

BEIRUT (Lebanon) - The numbers are in. The Philippines are arguably one of the best offensive teams across all of the Continental Cup Qualifiers after Window 1.

 

 

With their 106-53 drubbing of Chinese Taipei, the Philippines became one of only four teams to score at least 100 points in this window. They were tied with second-most with Australia behind Brazil who incredibly put up 106 points twice.

...

 

Top Scoring Games in Window 1 of Continental Cup Qualifiers

#	Team	Game	PTS
1.	Brazil	vs Paraguay 108-43,23/02/2024	108
	Brazil	vs Paraguay 108-53,26/02/2024	108
2.	Australia	vs Indonesia 106-51,25/02/2024	106
	Philippines	vs Chinese Taipei 106-53,25/02/2024	106
3.	USA	vs Cuba 100-79,22/02/2024	100

Across both games, however, they averaged exactly 100.0 points per game, joining Brazil as the only two teams to reach triple-digit averages at the end of the window.

Top Scoring Team (per game) in Window 1 of Continental Cup Qualifiers

#	Team	PPG
1.	Brazil	108.0
2.	Philippines	100.0
3.	Australia	95.5
4.	Canada	92.0
5.	Lebanon	90.5

More impressively, the Philippines are also scoring at a high volume with a high level of efficiency. Among teams that are scoring at least 80.0 points per game, only one team is shooting at least 50 percent from the field, 35 percent from the three-point line, and 75 percent from the free-throw line.

Top Scoring Teams in Window 1 of Continental Cup Qualifiers

Team	PPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
Brazil	108.0	56.0	38.0	67.2
Philippines	100.0	51.0	39.0	82.8
Australia	95.5	50.0	29.2	72.9
Canada	92.0	41.4	29.7	72.1
Lebanon	90.5	50.0	27.1	78.0
Great Britain	90.0	58.6	53.3	72.2
New Zealand	88.5	50.7	29.6	62.5
Uruguay	88.0	52.0	42.9	72.7
Slovenia	87.5	41.7	35.8	77.6
Tunisia	85.7	47.9	26.4	77.1
Italy	85.0	53.5	41.5	58.8
Korea	83.5	46.2	33.3	74.1
Argentina	83.5	43.8	35.0	62.5
USA	83.5	43.0	32.6	61.1
Netherlands	83.0	47.3	40.4	67.7
Cote d'Ivoire	83.0	46.0	32.5	78.4
Egypt	83.0	46.8	40.7	64.6
North Macedonia	82.5	49.2	35.4	78.8
Bosnia and Herzegovina	81.5	47.2	19.0	70.9
Puerto Rico	81.5	46.3	37.3	83.3
Iran	81.0	46.3	37.5	60.6
Denmark	80.0	42.7	37.0	80.0
Cuba	80.0	40.4	26.7	88.4

While the straightforward offensive output is exciting and already impressive, the most glaring statistic that will ignite joy among Philippines basketball fans is the assist numbers.

Among all teams, no one dishes out more dimes per game than Gilas.

Top Teams in Assists (per game) in Window 1 of Continental Cup Qualifiers

#	Team	APG
1.	Philippines	31.5
2.	Brazil	26.5
3.	Canada	25.5
4.	Italy	25.0
5.	Australia	25.0

There were only five games in which a team recorded at least 30 assists and two of those were by the Philippines. No other team made more assists in a single game than the 33 dimes the Philippines dropped to their teammates.

Top games in Assists in Window 1 of Continental Cup Qualifiers

#	Team	Game	Assists	PTS
1.	Philippines	vs Hong Kong, China 94-64,22/02/2024	33	94
2.	Korea	vs Thailand 96-62,25/02/2024	32	96
3.	Philippines	vs Chinese Taipei 106-53,25/02/2024	30	106
	Canada	vs Nicaragua 96-51,23/02/2024	30	96
	USA	vs Cuba 100-79,22/02/2024	30	100

This should come to no one's surprise that the Philippines ended up with the highest Assist-to-Turnover ratio as well, being the only team with a ratio over 3.0.

Top Teams in Assists/Turnovers in Window 1 of Continental Cup Qualifiers

#	Team	AST/TO
1.	Philippines	3.1
2.	Canada	2.8
3.	Canada	2.3
4.	Australia	2.2
5.	Italy	2.1

Coach Tim Cone and the Philippines are on a high about how they've been playing, not just because they are winning but because of how they are winning. The chemistry between the players on this squad is undeniable, to a point where they wished there were more games to play in this window to keep things going.

"… We wish we had one more game, another game to play like next week or in a couple of days so we can keep this group together," said Cone in the post-game Press Conference after their win over Chinese Taipei.

"I don't think there's one guy on the team not looking forward to June and getting back together and getting this thing going again. I think they all had a great time."

It's most likely that not only the team itself had a great time this window, but the fans themselves also had a great time watching their team play at this level especially those that got to watch live at the PhilSports Arena.

They will also be looking forward to see this team get back together and continue this impressive form without skipping a beat.

FIBA