June Mar Fajardo (with ball) and Gilas Pilipinas are coming off a loss to Chinese Taipei. –FIBA.BASKETBALL

The real games are finally here for Gilas Pilipinas, with Chinese-Taipei presenting an early stern test as the Nationals kick off their Fiba Asia Cup campaign in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

“We have a battle on our hands. But we’ll be ready,” coach Tim Cone said as the Philippines takes on its Taiwanese counterparts at 9 p.m. on Tuesday local time (2 a.m. Wednesday, Manila time) at King Abdullah Sports City.

Gilas is expected to face a talented Chinese-Taipei squad that will come into the match with some psychological edge after winning their previous match last February at the Asia Cup Qualifiers in Taipei.

One reason will be the presence of brothers Robert and Adam Hinton, who are playing for Harvard and Cornell, respectively, in the US NCAA Division I. The two, based in California, are eligible to play as locals with their mother being from Taiwan.

“The Hinton brothers are making an impact on that team, so they definitely have the personnel,” said Cone, adding that “it wasn’t a fluke that they beat us, so we have to be prepared for them.”

Chinese-Taipei also has Mohammad Al Bachir Gadiaga as a local and naturalized player in Brandon Gilbeck.

Tough cookie

The Taiwanese side is coming off a second-place finish in its home tournament, the William Jones Cup, which was won by Philippine club Strong Group Athletics. It was also SGA that handed Chinese-Taipei its only loss in that week-long competition.

And based from what Cone saw in those games, Chinese-Taipei will be a tough cookie to grind.

“They actually dominated the Jones Cup. They lost to Strong and that’s the only game Taiwan lost and they blew a bunch of teams there,” said Cone.

For Gilas to make up for the February setback, it will need the likes of main guys to step up and maximize on the preparation it had in the past weeks, including the time the Nationals had in Jeddah.

Gilas arrived in Saudi Arabia last Thursday and immediately buckled down to work while also beating Jordan, 75-61, in a tuneup match.

The Asia Cup opener will also see if June Mar Fajardo and Calvin Oftana are healthy enough to be at their best, especially after dealing with injuries that limited their participation in practices.

Of course, the crucial pieces are naturalized player Justin Brownlee, Dwight Ramos and Scottie Thompson, Gilas veterans who will lead the squad’s campaign in Group D, which also includes New Zealand and Iraq.

New Zealand is seen as perhaps the favorite to top the group while Iraq will likely serve as a mystery.

“New Zealand is obviously going to be tough, no matter what team they send,” Cone said. “Then we don’t know a lot of Iraq yet, but we’re finding it out as we go along. But the old saying is, we’ll take it one game at a time at this point, and that’s truly the reason you say it because it’s true.

“But right now, our minds now is on Taiwan. We got to get through them,” he added. INQ