The 2019 Pacific Games in Apia, Samoa (July 8-17) is the official Qualifier to the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Pre-Qualifiers. The top 2 teams will qualify to the next round of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualification phase.

Apia (Samoa) – The champ is here.

Guam, the undisputed defending champion of the Pacific Games, is making a return in the 2019 edition after dominating the Micronesia Games.

Aside from that, newcomer Guam also won the FIBA Asia Cup Eastern Pre-Qualifiers to book a ticket to the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers for the first time in history.

The pair of dominating campaigns is expected to be of help when Guam defends its throne against Melanesia Cup king Papua New Guinea, Polynesia Cup champion Tahiti together with other formidable squads like the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Tonga, Fiji and host Samoa.

QUALIFIERS

Guam hardly encountered resistance in the "Micro Games", completing a 6-0 sweep with a 31.6-point winning margin.

It dominated Palau (77-61), Kiribati (72-47), Pohnpei (81-61), Chuuk (95-56), Palau (92-49) again in the Semi-Final Round and Republic of Marshall Islands (86-72) in the final.

In the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Pre-Qualifiers, Guam also reigned supreme, sweeping the competition with wins over Fiji (93-55), Singapore (107-57), Thailand (91-70), Indonesia (65-53) and Macau (97-64) to book a ticket to the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.

POSSIBLE KEY PLAYERS

Mekeli Wesley, Tai Wesley, JP Cruz, Willie Stinnett

You know a team is a legitimate and deep one if you have more than just one, two and three key players to lean on.

And that is simply what this Guam team has as different players stepped up in different tournaments that served as their buildup for the Pacific Games.

First, in the Micronesian Games, Mekeli Wesley stepped to the plate, leading Guam to an 86-72 victory over RMI with his 22 points while Ben Borja and Wegeler backstopped him with 15 and 12 markers, respectively.

After taking a backseat in an easy MicroGames campaign, Guam made short work of the FIBA Asia Cup Eastern Pre-Qualifiers in Thailand.

In their 5-0 romp Tai Wesley (13.6pts, 8.6rebs, 3.2asts) and Cruz (12.2 pts, 1.5 rebs, 1.8 asts) contributed solid numbers in their campaign.

2015 PACIFIC GAMES PERFORMANCE

Guam started slowly in the last edition of the prestigious quadrennial sports joust in the Pacific, absorbing a 66-76 loss to Tahiti albeit minus their talented big man Tai Wesley.

But as a sleeping giant being awakens, Guam went on a tear, sweeping the remaining matches all the way to the end to win the coveted gold medal.

Guam vented its ire on Samoa (79-72), Solomon Islands (91-62), Fiji (75-72), American Samoa (91-75), and Papua New Guinea (103-53) to make it to the Final Four.

Guam then exacted revenge on Tahiti, scoring a fitting 89-57 win in the Semi-Final Round before repeating over Fiji, 78-61 to reign on top of the Pacific.

OUTLOOK

Guam is the team to beat in the Pacific and it feels like it's their crown to lose.

The island nation is expecting to hoist the trophy once again. Any finish lower than that would be a disappointment.

Helping them achieve that feat is the incomparable preparations and experience it had especially from the FIBA Asia Cup Pre-Qualifiers.

As they’ve said, it’s one thing to have a talent but it’s also another thing to have practice. Guam, unfortunately for its foes, has both heading into the Pacific Games with no less than the crown on its sight.

Mix all of that – talent, preparation, balanced roster and motivation – Guam is indeed expected to be a team on a mission.

“It’s time to pull it all together and complete the job done,” said coach EJ Calvo to The Guam Daily Post.

For more Pacific Games information visit the official website here.

FIBA