By WAYLON GALVEZ
Lacking in height and experience, the Philippine team suffered a double whammy in the 2018 FIBA 3×3 U-23 World Cup Wednesday night in Xi’an, China.
The Ricci Rivero-led national team dropped its first two games in what could be an ominous sign of what to expect from the team.
Ranked 19th out of the 20 teams in the tournament, the Filipinos suffered a 21-14 defeat in their first game versus world No. 5 Slovenia, and then came short against world No. 1 Serbia 21-16.
The setbacks put the national team at the bottom of Group C with a 0-2 record behind No. 8 China at 2-0 and No. 17 Turkmenistan at 1-1, which is tied with Serbia and Slovenia.
The national team, which also has Rhayyan Amsali, Jeepy Faundo and RJ Abarrientos, will face Turkmenistan and China today with hopes of making it to the next round.
Only the top two teams in each of the four groups will advance to the quarterfinal round.