ALLAN THE MAN

Gilas-Pilipinas dropped its first game in the FIBA World Cup after suffering an 81-78 overtime loss to Croatia on Saturday evening in Seville, Spain.



Bojan Bogdanovic scored a team-high 26 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field to lead the Croatian national team. Andray Blatche had a game-high 28, while Jeff Chan scored 17 markers to spearhead the Philippines' attack.

The Gilas Pilipinas (Philippines) will kick off its World Cup of Basketball campaign vs Croatia at the Palacio Municipal de Deportes San Pablo. The game will mark the country's return to the world championships, 36 years after it last competed in the 1978 FIBA Worlds.

Top Rank chief executive Bob Arum believes the long-awaited showdown between Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao and pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. can finally happen in 2015.

The "super fight" between Pacquiao and Mayweather has been discussed time and again, but has never come to fruition due to discord between the two camps.

The music video for 'Sube la Copa', the official song of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, was released on Thursday. The video features some of the biggest stars in international basketball as they join the singer - as well as fans of their countries - in singing, playing and dancing the song in a party of rhythms, roots and colours, with some of the best moments and highlights from past editions of FIBA's flagship event mixed in. 

WATCH Official Music Video of 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup BELOW:

Filipino basketball fans already know that the national team would be an underdog when it plunges into action in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup on Saturday. 

Just how much the odds are stacked against Gilas Pilipinas became apparent this week after ESPN rated the team one of the worst heading into the competition.

Filipino boxer and now KIA Motors playing coach Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao wants to hire former NBA player Ron Artest – now known as Metta World Peace – as his team's import in the PBA.

Pacquiao, who was taken by KIA with the 11th pick in the recent PBA Draft, told Abac Cordero of the Philippine Star while in China that he is thinking of tabbing Artest as their reinforcement for future conferences.

Naturalized Filipino Andray Blatche may not be able to suit up for Gilas Pilipinas in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea after the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) reportedly questioned his eligibility.

Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Richie Garcia said the OCA has pointed out that Blatche, who became a naturalized Filipino only last June, has to serve a 3-year residency before he can represent the Philippines in the XVII Asiad.