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| Despite falling short of their real goal in the FIBA World Cup hosting, Gilas still moved up the FIBA rankings. Kennelf Monteza (file photo) |
MANILA--In what could be the last FIBA rankings update in Gilas Pilipinas' Chot Reyes era, the Philippine team moved up.
Gilas' win against China in their last FIBA World Cup assignment turned out to be just enough to still jump some places in the world rankings despite the disappointing campaign.
As revealed on Friday night, Gilas moved up two spots to number 38 in the world following a huge shakeup brought about by the FIBA World Cup results.
Germany, the newly crowned world champion, moved into third place, an eight-place rise from 11th during the sixth qualifying window.
Serbia, the silver medalist, moved up one spot to fifth in the world, while Canada, the bronze medalist, moved up nine spots to sixth.
Team USA, despite missing out on the podium finish, reclaimed the top spot in the world rankings as Spain, following a shock early exit brought about by Canada's come-from-behind win in their do-or-die second-round clash, slipped to number two in the world but still just enough to keep the top spot for Europe despite Germany's rise.
The biggest winners, however, were Latvia and South Sudan.
Latvia, banking on an impressive fifth-place finish in its maiden FIBA World Cup journey, jumped 22 places from 30th last February to eighth this month.
South Sudan, on the other hand, made the biggest gain as it moved 32 notches up to 31st in the world, now becoming the top team in Africa after a solid FIBA World Cup campaign that led to its direct qualification to the Paris Olympics.
Japan, which also earned direct qualification to the Paris Olympics after being the host team in the 2021 edition in Saitama, jumped 11 places to number 26 in the world and is now the top team in continental Asia--third in the Asia-Pacific region counting Australia and New Zealand.
Despite the rank up in the world rankings, Gilas actually fell to number eight in the Asia-Pacific region as Lebanon leapfrogged by 16 places from 44th overall to 28th, also overtaking China and Jordan for fifth in the Asia-Pacific.
Despite crashing to the bottom of the FIBA World Cup standings, Jordan moved up one spot to 32nd overall, while China dropped one spot to 29th.
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