MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines will look to pounce on the absence of Iran's top stars when they once again defend their home court in the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers on Monday evening at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Coming off a slim loss to Kazakhstan on Friday night, Team Pilipinas will try to bounce back against an Iran team that will be playing without Hamed Haddadi and Arsalan Kazemi, along with Samad Nikkhah Bahrami.

Moreover, Iran is coming off a huge loss as well, having bowed to Australia, 76-47, also on Friday night.

Coach Yeng Guiao has made adjustments to the line-up that lost to Kazakhstan, tapping Christian Standhardinger as his naturalized player in place of Stanley Pringle.

Back from suspension are Troy Rosario and Jayson Castro, while Arwind Santos is making his return to the national team after nearly a decade. They replaced Alex Cabagnot, Greg Slaughter, and Poy Erram.

• READ: Castro in as Gilas looks to salvage home stand vs. Iran

"We feel we've made the adjustment, line-up-wise," said Guiao. "We feel that the people we put in, of course Christian has the quickness, Troy has the quickness, Arwind has the quickness, then si Jayson."

"So 'yung quickness requirement namin, napunuan naman. Pero 'yun nga, magsa-sacrifice ka ng size," he added.

Guiao had been aware that Iran may play without Haddadi, Bahrami, and Kazemi, but said they prepared with those stars still in mind.

"As I said before, it's easier to make the adjustment kung wala sila. Pero kung pinaghandaan mo na wala sila tapos andiyan pala sila, that is a harder adjustment to make," he explained. "We can just tweak the game plan."

The coach also said the team is determined to move past the loss to Kazakhstan, and instead claim an important win over Iran that will fuel their drive to the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

"We have a chance to tie Iran in second place," he pointed out. "So that's going to be still within our objective."

Iran, meanwhile, is determined to get back on the winning track as well after suffering their biggest loss in the Asian qualifiers.

"It's gonna be better for us in Manila," said Iran's Mohammad Jamshidi, as quoted by the FIBA website. "Australia was a really tough team to play. We lost rebounding by 20, so it was a big reason we lost this game."

Iran defeated the Philippines, 81-73, when they played in Tehran last September 13.

Game time at the MOA Arena is at 7:30 p.m.

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