MELBOURNE (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers) - Both Australia and Philippines went undefeated in the first window, and they will dispute the top position in Group B when they clash tomorrow.

The Boomers registered convincing victories over Chinese Taipei and Japan in November last year to zoom to the top of the Group B standings. Likewise, Gilas Pilipinas beat both Japan and Chinese Taipei, although the Filipinos did not exactly win by a mile in either affair.

This is the first time that Australia and the Philippines will play each other at the Asian Qualifiers, with the hometown Boomers certainly the overwhelming favorites given how they have dominated the competition since entering in 2017. The Filipinos, of course, will be fighting tooth and nail to stay within striking distance of Australia, but they will definitely find themselves against tall odds.

Key Matchups: One juicy matchup should have been Jayson Castro against Jason Cadee, but the former has been excluded from the final roster by Philippines head coach Chot Reyes due to a lingering ankle injury. The man who will be tasked to go head-to-head against Cadee, therefore, will be fast rising star Kiefer Ravena, the second overall pick in last year's PBA Draft. Ravena has been the most impressive rookie in the PBA's current season, and Filipino hoop nuts have high hopes he will deliver the goods in Melbourne. Cadee, though, has different plans. The 26-year-old playmaker has been rock-solid for the Boomers since the Asia Cup 2017, and though he is not the type to explode for 30 points in a game, he brings a great level of stability to the home team.

"You can tell they are a dangerous team," Cadee told Jutt Sulit of ESPN5. "If we don't take them out of things and make life hard for them, they can come in and beat us. We'll need to play hard for 40 minutes to come out with the victory."

Another matchup to watch is the one between naturalized Filipino Andray Blatche and sweet-shooting Aussie big man Daniel Kickert. Both guys can stretch the defense with their outside shooting, but Blatche has a slight edge because he has the ability to put the ball on the floor and then protect the rim on the other end. Kickert, however, has been on a roll for the Boomers. The 6ft 10in (2.08m) center who plies his trade for the Brisbane Bullets was actually Australia's leading scorer in the first window, dropping 18.5 points and 3.5 triples per game. Blatche, meanwhile, focused more on rebounding and defense rather than scoring, putting up 9.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 4.0 blocks per game.

Key Stats: There are several statistics to look at going into this pivotal encounter. The first one is rebounding, where, surprisingly, the smaller Philippines quintet has registered better numbers. The Filipinos grab 47.0 rebounds per game compared to 42.5 for the Boomers, but it remains to be seen if coach Chot Reyes's wards can continue to dominate the battle of the boards against a bigger and heftier Aussie unit. On the other end, coach Andrej Lemanis's crew have the edge in playmaking and outside shooting. Thanks to Cadee, Kickert and Nathan Sobey, the Boomers have utilized fluid ball movement in both their first window wins, and this means the Philippines will have to work extra hard on defending those cutting and passing lanes. Three-point shooting has also been a big weapon for Australia, which nailed nearly 46% of their tries from beyond the arc last November. In contrast, Gilas Pilipinas made just over 28% of their three-point shots. That's something the Filipinos will have to correct, though, since they will need their long bombs to fall if they are to keep in step with loaded Australian side. Otherwise, this could be lights out sooner rather than later.

FIBA