Window Four schedule — Friday, SM MOA Arena

• 2 p.m. — Iran vs New Zealand
• 5 p.m. — Syria vs Australia
• 8:30 p.m. — Philippines vs Jordan

Gilas Pilipinas enters the fourth window of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers (WCQ) in a precarious position. Carrying a 2-4 record and eight points carried over from the first round, the Nationals sit fifth in Group E — outside both the Top 3 and the best fourth-placer cutline — as the final push for a World Cup berth begins.

The Filipinos have six games left in Round 2 to produce the results needed to catch Australia (12 points on 6-0), Iran (11 on 5-1), Jordan (11 on 5-1) and New Zealand (10 on 4-2), hold off Syria (8 on 2-4) and ultimately crack the Magic 3 or 4. With the standings still compact behind the leaders, each game carries added weight for a team trying to stay within reach of the qualification race. By any measure, the time to make their move is now, not later.

"We already discussed that we can't lose one or two games. We have to go shoot for being perfect (in the last six matches) and give ourselves a chance to make the World Cup," said Gilas star Dwight Ramos.

The must-win predicament is made more difficult by the absence of Justin Brownlee (JB), the team's heart and soul. Brownlee is sitting out Gilas' back-to-back assignments in Window 4 — against Jordan on Friday and Iran on Sunday — due to health issues.

"It's going to take everybody; it's not going to be one person that makes up for JB's absence. All of us have to pitch in and contribute any way that we can," said Chris Newsome.

First up for the Philippines, which welcomes back Kai Sotto to the fold, is Jordan on Friday at the SM MOA Arena. The 8:30 p.m. showdown rekindles the rivalry between the two finalists of the last Asian Games in Hangzhou.

"We're familiar with Jordan. We've known their key players (Ahmad Hekmat) Al-Dwairi and (Freddy) Ibrahim," said coach Tim Cone, who was also at the helm when Gilas beat the Falcons for Asiad glory, 70-60.

"The guy that we're going to have to be really concerned about, he's their Justin Brownlee, is Jalen Harris, who's a former NBA guy. He's averaged 27 points so far so we're going to have to find some stoppers to go against him. Harris makes them very formidable."

Mr. Cone said he needs all hands on deck for the window — including Gilas' "Sixth Man" — with the country hosting all of the Group E matches in Window 4.

"We're really fortunate that it's here in Manila, that we're playing in front of a home crowd," he said.

"We hope everybody will come and cheer because we need every little ounce of energy they can give us and fuel our never-say-die spirit."

— Olmin Leyba