MANILA (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers) - After an impressive performance in the first window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers, Matthew Wright approaches next month's games with a lot of confidence.

Wright scored in double digits in both of Gilas Pilipinas's wins back in November, tallying a dozen points in the 77-71 win at Japan and following that up with 11 in the 90-83 defeat of Chinese Taipei in Manila. He shot 50 percent from beyond the arc, making on average 2 three-pointers per contest.

Needless to say, he was a critical reason for the Filipinos' ability to make life extra difficult for their opponents.

"We went 2-0 so I feel like we did our job," Wright said. "We handled business, even if it was sloppy at times and even if it was closer that we expected to be, especially against Chinese Taipei. Now we have some time to focus on getting better and ironing out the kinks."

Things will certainly get more difficult in February, especially with the prospect of missing spitfire Terrence Romeo and the naturalized pair of Andray Blatche and Christian Standhardinger looming large.

Wright, however, doesn't want to key in on who's missing. He'd rather zero in on their game plan against their next two foes.

"We cannot really focus on who won't be there right now," he explained. "Whether they play or not is not really in our control, so we'll work with the pieces we have."

The Philippines resume their campaign on the Road to China 2019 by taking on powerhouse and FIBA Asia Cup 2017 champions Australia on February 22 in a tough road game in Melbourne. By all intents and purposes, that clash could determine the top team in the group.

The 26-year-old Wright acknowledges the Boomers' depth and strength but also knows that on a good day, Gilas can potentially pull off an upset.

"They're the favorites, I guess, on paper," he said. "But I'm sure we'll have a good game plan and execute it. We just have to knock down our shots and hopefully catch them off-guard."

After mixing it up with Australia, the Filipinos will return home and host Japan at the Mall of Asia Arena on February 25.

"WE KNOW JAPAN WILL PLAY HARD, AND THEY ARE A TOUGH TEAM. WE FEEL, HOWEVER, THAT WE HAVE THE BLUEPRINT ON HOW TO BEAT THEM, SO WE JUST HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN" WrightWright

Wright knows the Akatsuki Five haven't forgotten their home loss to the Philippines last November and are hell-bent on payback. The 6ft 2in (1.87m) wingman is confident, though, that he and his teammates are going to be up to the task.

"I'm sure they will be hungry, and we'll have a target on our backs," he said. "Because we beat them on their own home court, they will want to do the same to us and get revenge. We know Japan will play hard, and they are a tough team. We feel, however, that we have the blueprint on how to beat them, so we just have to do it again."

FIBA