By REYNALD MAGALLON
Basketball never stops for PBA Philippine Cup Finals MVP Chris Newsome.
After steering Meralco to its first-ever title in the PBA, Newsome is shifting his focus to the preparations of Gilas Pilipinas for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Latvia in July.
The Nationals are set to convene for the first time in a closed door practice on Friday, June 21, and the Bolts star intends to immediately join the training before they fly to Europe for a pair of friendlies against Turkey and Poland.
From there, Gilas will head straight to Riga, where it is set to face Latvia and Georgia in their group.
“My work doesn’t stop here and I kinda have that on my head already that even if I win today I still have work to do. I might take a little bit of time off like a day or two but then I get to stay at the gym to keep my game rhythm going,” said Newsome.
Fresh off a high-intensity six games in the Finals against San Miguel, Newsome believes he’s in his best condition for the OQT as he hopes to translate his stellar performance in the PBA to the international scene.
“I’m already in shape. I’m already in condition and my mind is already playoff intensity so I feel like I’m ready for the Olympic qualifiers and excited to see those guys on Friday,” said the 33-year-old guard.
“Excited to get to work and try to get ourselves a chance to get to the Olympics for the country,” he added.
It was already quite a stellar season for Newsome who also won gold medals with Gilas in the Southeast Asian Games and Asian Games – stints that he said made huge contributions in building his confidence which he displayed during the Finals.
“Definitely helped, going up against the best in the world definitely allows you to understand where you are as a player and the skill set that you have as a player,” said Newsome.
“Gilas definitely allowed me take my confidence to another level and it was nice to say that I’m competing against the best of the world while wearing that Pilipinas jersey,” he added.
