Gilas Pilipinas vs. New Zealand: Time, Live Stream for 2015 William Jones Cup

The 2015 William Jones Cup hasn't gone as planned for New Zealand or the Philippines. Both arrived in Taiwan with designs on taking home the championship. Disappointing losses in close games leave them in need of major help coming into the final three days of the event. 

For both, a loss Friday (1 p.m. in Taiwan or 1 a.m. ET, broadcast on Sports5 website in the Philippines) in the Philippines will undoubtedly end any hope they had of coming out with a championship. 

Gilas opened the tournament behind an 8-ball after star Andray Blatche left the team to cope with the loss of his uncle. Blatche is expected back at some point Saturday, per Musong Castillo of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which will do little to help the Gilas in the event unless they help themselves.

Nowhere was Blatche's presence more missed than Thursday's loss to the Iranians. Hamed Haddadi put up 22 points and 15 rebounds as Iran outboarded the Philippines 40-28 in their 74-65 victory. Sixteen of Iran's boards came on the offensive end, which gave the table leaders a number of important chances. Gilas coach  Tab Baldwin also pointed to his team's waning fundamentals for the mistakes.

"We're doing dumb things over and over. We were in penalty every quarter not because of what they were running but our lack of discipline," Baldwin said, per Alder Almo of the Philippine Star.

Gilas will now almost certainly need to win out and have Iran drop at least one of its final two games to take home the William Jones Cup. The two teams are separated by 53 points in the point differential column as well, so it will take a Herculean effort.

New Zealand is almost certainly out of the running following Tuesday's loss to South Korea but has a surprisingly strong plus-four point differential. The Wellington Saints recovered from their four-point heartbreak at the hands of South Korea to take care of Japan on Thursday, getting 20-plus points from Ray Turner, Eric Devendorf and Kevin Braswell. Turner added 11 rebounds to his total, including seven on the offensive end.

New Zealand should have the advantage inside against Gilas with Blatche still out and may even wind up with the better backcourt. As noted by InterAksyon.com, star Philippines guard Terrence Romeo is dealing with an ankle injury that may keep him out of the matchup. Romeo has taken over the bulk of the scoring in Blatche's absence and drawn a ton of attention for his off-the-dribble moves.

“Terrence is not a fluke... It’s truly his craft. He’s professional about his craft, and he deserves a lot of respect and admiration,” Baldwin said earlier during the tournament, per the PBA.

Losing Romeo would be a crushing blow to a Gilas squad already in an uphill battle. His injury left the team without a go-to scorer, as Pauliasi Taulava led the way with 12 points and Jayson William and JC Intal each added 10. Gilas' success in recent years has largely been dependent on individual success rather than offensive fluidity; Blatch has reached a strange cult-hero status for his brilliant international play while Romeo was well on his way to doing the same.

His absence—if indeed he is out—may be the final nail in Gilas' coffin.