GILAS Pilipinas rolled to a 102-80 victory over Congo Tuesday night (early Wednesday Manila time) to begin the first of two tune-up matches in Guadalajara, Spain.
ESPN5 reported that naturalized player Andray Blatche scored 25 points, Japeth Aguilar had 22 and Mark Barroca added 16 in the win held closed-doors at the Palacio Multiusos de Guadalajara.
The result should boost the morale of the national team coached by Yeng Guiao after having only three tune-ups were held in the first two months of training in Manila.
Gilas wraps up its Guadalajara sojourn with an exhibition opposite Ivory Coast on Wednesday (Thursday Manila time).
Ivory Coast is also using the tune-up as preparation for the World Cup after finishing third in Group F of the African Qualifiers with a 7-5 record.
The Ivorians were drawn in Group A alongside host China, Venezuela and Poland.
Gilas leaves for Malaga the following day to compete in a four-team pocket tournament where they’ll face Congo for the second time.
The winner advances to the final against either host Spain or Ivory Coast.
Prior to the Congo match, Gilas held a morning practice as part of its three-day itinerary in the city located 60 kilometers from the Spanish capital of Madrid.
QUICKER, SMARTER
The Italian basketball team’s huge size advantage notwithstanding, Sen. Bong Go, a diehard hoops fan, feels Gilas Pilipinas has what it takes to topple the European powerhouse in the FIBA World Cup that gets going late this month in China.
“Mabibilis at matatalino naman tayo (We are quicker and smarter),” Go told a group of reporters after presiding over Wednesday’s meeting with top sports leaders in relation to the country’s hosting of the 30th Southeast Asian Games scheduled Nov. 30-Dec. 11.
“Bilog ang bola (The ball is round),” stressing that the Philippine team might end up inflicting heavy damage with their three-point shots.
“Malay mo pumasok lahat ang ating mga three-pointers and sa kanila two points,” said Go, who was appointed as Gilas’ team adviser.
Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte joked that Filipinos better rally behind the Chinese team instead of the Philippines given the Italians’ sheer edge in height.
But Go swears his longtime boss is throwing his support behind the Filipinos and has in fact instructed him to arrange if his schedule can permit him to watch the Filipinos in action.
“Magiging morale-booster ang pagpunta nya,” added Go.
Duterte is also set to visit China at around the same time the FIBA World Cup is going to be played and Chinese leader Xi Jinping has extended an invite for him to grace the formal opening in Beijing. (JONAS TERRADO AND NICK GIONGCO)
