Gilas Pilipinas against the Taiwan Mustangs in a tuneup game at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig, June 24, 2024. Photo by Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News.

MANILA – Gilas Pilipinas is set to embark on a daunting task in hopes of booking a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

The Filipino hoopers alongside head coach Tim Cone will be competing in the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in early July and are bound to face Latvia and Georgia in Riga.

READ: Dwight Ramos ready to take on PG duties for short-handed Gilas in FIBA OQT

A win by Gilas against their Group A opponents will propel them to the crossover semifinals against Group B’s Brazil, Montenegro, and Cameroon, and aiding the Filipinos to support the National squad in this uphill climb is Smart Communication’s LiveStream App.

“Through the Smart LiveStream App, we encourage every Filipino basketball fan to support Gilas Pilipinas in their quest to join other qualifiers bound for Paris 2024,” said Alex O. Caeg, Head of Consumer Wireless Business at Smart. “The FIBA OQT games will be like a primer to Smart LiveStream’s most comprehensive broadcast of the entire Paris 2024 happening late July to August.”

“Expect Gilas Pilipinas to give it their all against host country Latvia and against Georgia. Let’s continue to support and follow the journey of our men’s national basketball team powered by Smart’s superior mobile network,” added Jude Turcuato, Head of Sports at PLDT-Smart.

Gilas will be going up against World’s No. 6 Latvia on July 4 and No. 23 Georgia less than 24 hours later.