As Gilas Pilipinas heads into the third window of the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian qualifiers, the margin for error has all but disappeared.
Facing a daunting pair of road assignments against Australia and New Zealand, in Perth, Western Australia, the Philippines find themselves in a position where their World Cup hopes could be defined over the next two games.
In the first part of our five-part series leading into the qualifiers, we focus on Dwight Ramos and ponder whether he can continue to carry the mantle as Gilas' top local performer.
Since being without Kai Sotto, the national team has struggled to find consistent offense to support the heavy lifting of Justin Brownlee. And to an extent has limited the naturalized player to just averages of16.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.8 assists on 55.4 TS%.
Dwight Ramos has become the de facto main guy, as the lone player to average double figures for Gilas in the first two windows, but the 27-year old wing still has a lot of refining to do if he is to become effective.
Ramos should just be a secondary ball handler
Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone deployed CJ Perez alongside Ramos in the Philippines home games against Australia and New Zealand four months ago. The setup added another scoring threat on the floor, but it came at the expense of playmaking and offensive organization. Too often, Ramos was tasked with bringing the ball up and initiating actions in the triangle offense, responsibilities that are outside his natural role.
When the 6'4" wing has been forced to create everything himself, opposing defenses have been able to key in on him, taking away the rhythm that makes him so effective. The result has been a dip in production, and he has posted just 47.0 TS% over the past four games.
The reality is that Ramos is at his best as a secondary ball handler rather than the primary engine of an offense.
During his stint with Levanga Hokkaido in Japan's B.League, much of his success has come alongside established point guards and creators who allow him to operate as a movement player by cutting, relocating, attacking closeouts, and making quick decisions off the catch. That has seen him produce his most efficient season in five years in the B.League, with a career-best points output of 12.3 points per game and commendable 56.7 TS% in 60 games played.
Can Ramos fill Gilas' lack of shooting?
Gilas still boasts a formidable frontline even without Sotto and with Quentin Millora-Brown, but the team's biggest offensive concern remains its perimeter shooting.
The Philippines converted just 30.1% of three-point attempts (44-of-146) in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup, ranking No. 12 among the 16 participating teams. The issue has only become more pronounced in the World Cup Asian qualifiers, with Gilas shooting a dismal 25.2% (26-of-103) from beyond the arc -- the lowest mark among all teams through two windows. Ramos has not been immune to those struggles, either, connecting on just 17.6% (9-of-51) of his threes across nine games.
Yet those numbers hardly reflect the shooter Ramos has become in Japan.
During his most recent B.League campaign with Levanga Hokkaido, the California native knocked down a career-best 37.1% from deep. Part of the discrepancy with his Gilas output can be traced to his roles, with Ramos often being tasked with initiating offense and handling primary playmaking duties with the Philippines, forcing him into tougher, self-created attempts late in possessions.
That distinction becomes even more important within Cone's triangle offense.
Ramos has been far more efficient inside the arc, converting 54.5% of two-point attempts, largely because of his ability to read defenses and capitalize on movement actions such as the Blind Pig. By surrounding him with a primary ball handler and reducing his creation burden, Gilas can unlock both aspects of his game by cutting and finishing around the basket; this will also allow him to display the catch-and-shoot three-point stroke that made him one of the more reliable perimeter threats in the B.League.