Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes verbalized on Monday what a lot of his team’s followers already know -- the Filipinos’ next assignment in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers will be its toughest to date.

Reyes and co. will be taking on Australia, the reigning Asian regional champions, in Melbourne on February 22 before matching up against Japan at Mall of Asia Arena 3 days later.

Like many national teams around the world, the Aussies, nicknamed the Boomers, can’t field stars such as Ben Simmons, Matthew Dellavedova and Aron Baynes because the Cup qualifiers run side by side with the NBA season.

Its individual talent pool may be diminished relatively, but Australia will be formidable just the same because of one factor -- the players’ familiarity with one another.

“I think the thing with Australia, the blessing that they’re not having the NBA players is they’ve got this pool practicing for a long time. That’s a blessing for their program. They’re very well-coached,” Reyes said after Gilas called it a night following a roughly 90-minute scrimmage at Meralco Gym.

According to some Australia-based news websites, the Boomers are calling up essentially the core of its squad that won the FIBA Asia Cup title in August. The roster will include their top scorers out of the tournament -- the explosive back-court combo of Jason Cadee and Mitch Creek, and big man Daniel Kickert.

Without giving away details, Reyes said his staff scouted the Aussies in person during the Asia Cup in Beirut and his coaches have sufficient material to devise a game plan for them.

Based on what Reyes has acknowledged publicly, he stopped short of saying that Australia -- ranked 10th in the world and 27 places higher than the Philippines -- has no weakness.

“What we know about them is they’re very strong, they’ve got great size, great outside shooting and they have great great chemistry,” he said.

“We’re going to have a really, really tough time (playing) them.”

That might a notion that goes both ways, though.

Australian media tipped Gilas as an acid test for their national team, one that the Boomers won’t be taking lightly.

Both Australia and the Philippines hold 2-0 records to lead Group B, while Chinese-Taipei and Japan are winless in two games.

Like Reyes, Australia head coach Andrej Lemanis believes having a deep pool of players to draw from is crucial to this new qualifying format, which runs across several months in the lead-up to the World Cup tournament proper hosted by China in August and September 2019.

“Continuity is important in the team, especially with the limited preparation time in the FIBA qualification windows,” Lemanis said in an article posted on the Sydney Morning Herald website.

“This is why the Asia Cup campaign was so important (last year) – it was there that we had the opportunity to build on who we are as a team and having a core group of those players available for each of the windows is key,” added Lemanis, who will rely on players from the domestic National Basketball League to fill his roster, Australia’s top-tier professional competition that is its country’s version of the PBA.

Meanwhile, Reyes said he has spoken to Calvin Abueva about the Alaska forward’s absence in past Gilas practices.

“He asked me if he could come to practice. And I said of course he’s welcome. He’s still part of the team, it’s just that he won't be part of (the team to play in the next FIBA World Cup qualifying window),” Reyes said.

“Like I said, it’s unfair to the guys who’ve always been here and never missed a practice and he understands.”

Abueva cited personal reasons for having been unable to join Gilas in its practice session.

“Sabi ko, it’s also best that he focus on that first kasi kung maglalaro siya rito he’s not going to be 100%,” Reyes said.

For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.