Pressure mounts for Pasig Chooks-to-Go when it competes in the 2019 FIBA 3X3 Xiongan Challenger starting Friday in China.
Taylor Statham, who has been one of the leading scorers of Pasig on the world stage, was not fielded in this tourney that is a qualifier for the Los Angeles Masters.
Composing Pasig now are Joshua Munzon, No. 5 Troy Rike, No. 8 Dylan Ababou, and Serbian import Nikola Pavlovic.
With this predicament, Rike and Ababou admitted that Pasig will be much different without Statham.
“Team is gonna be a lot different without Taylor and missing him is a huge loss. We’re gonna be missing a strong physical presence who’s been a leader for Pasig since the beginning,” said Rike, who will make his return to Pasig after playing for Phenom-Basilan during the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 Patriot’s Cup.
“Our style of play is going to have to be different without him, so we’ll put our best game plan out there and just do our best to compete without him.
Balanga Chooks was supposed to play in this level-nine tournament but will instead play in Jeddah (Oct. 18-19).
Pasig will first face Beijing in the main draw on Friday at 5:40 pm. before facing either The Hague, Calgary, or Xiongan at 9:10 p.m. The top two teams in the group will advance to the knockout playoffs on Saturday.
