CHANGSHA-HUNAN (2015 FIBA Asia Championship) - There will be an exciting re-match between Group E rivals Japan and the Philippines in Friday's Semi-Finals of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship.

Team Hayabusa and Gilas Pilipinas already met earlier in this tournament, with the Filipinos winning a close one, 73-66, thanks to Andray Blatche's double-double performance. Now they're back at it, but this time for much higher stakes.

Japan's Outlook: With so many key players missing, Japan weren't expected to go this far in the tournament. Head coach Kenji Hasegawa's charges have defied the odds, though, and here they are, among the last four. Joji Takeuchi and Makoto Hiejima have consistently been Team Hayabusa's main weapons, but veterans Yuta Tabuse and Takatoshi Furukawa will be relied upon to deliver the goods as well. Without a doubt, Takeuchi and Co. will have their hands full against Blatche, who just unloaded a whale of a game against Lebanon. If Japan’s outside game is on-point and they can somewhat limit Blatche’s production, they may just pull the rug from under the Philippines.

Philippines' Outlook: The Philippine team's win over Lebanon wasn't as pulsating as their previous ones, but they will take it anyway. It was a grind-it-out affair that ended when Gilas Pilipinas was able to weather Lebanon's last ditch rally. Head coach Tab Baldwin will certainly go to his main guns again - Blatche, Jayson Castro and Terrence Romeo, but expect Asi Taulava to make an appearance in an effort to try and contain Joji Takeuchi, who has been a double-double machine for Team Hayabusa. The Filipinos have to play exceptional perimeter defense, too. They cannot allow guys like Makoto Hiejima, Daiki Tanaka, and Takatoshi Furukawa to heat up, or they’ll be in for a very long night.

Key Match-Up: The match-up of Takeuchi and Blatche will be front and center, but another critical pairing is between Hiejima and Castro. Hiejima has quietly been among this tournament’s most productive players, and he’s not the type who will shy away from the challenge of trying to stop someone like Castro, who has been on a personal mission to lead the Philippines back to the Olympics. Whoever can produce more fluid playmaking and explosive scoring should be able to prop his team’s chances up significantly.

FIBA