By REYNALD MAGALLON
Gilas Pilipinas went through the lengths from the Laguna training camp to across Europe in Istanbul and Sosnowiec for its short but excessively necessary buildup.
Now, the Filipinos are in the Baltic region armed with courage and the dreams of an entire nation as they battle great odds against Europe’s best and tallest.
All roads lead to Riga, Latvia where Gilas hopes to move skies and mountains to get a chance of qualifying for the 2024 Paris Games and ending a 52-year absence in the Olympic stage.
The first hurdle Gilas has to overcome to reach that dream is world No. 6 Latvia which, apart from its talent and size, will also be boasting a huge home court advantage against the Filipinos at Riga Arena in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament on Thursday, July 4.
Tip-off is at 12 a.m. (Manila time) with the Filipinos hoping to apply all of their experiences and learnings from the close losses to Poland and Turkey during its Europe trip.
Latvia, though, is certainly in a different league as compared to the two especially after it came just one shot away from making it to the semifinals of the 2023 World Cup when it narrowly lost to eventual champion Germany in the quarters.
Latvia may be missing the services of NBA champion Kristaps Porzingis of the Boston Celtics and the team’s best scorer in the last World Cup in Andejs Grazulis but the core of that squad remains for the OQT team led by brothers Dairis and Davis Bertans, the latter an NBA player for the Charlotte Hornets.
Arturs Zagars, Roland Smits, Rodion Kurucs and Klavs Cavars are also coming back to the team along with new additions Mareks Mejeris, Janis Timma, Arturs Strautins, Janis Strelnieks, Rihard Lomasz and Kristers Zoriks.
Smits averaged 13.3 points per game in the World Cup, behind Grazulis’ 14 points while Zagars and Davis Bertans had 12.4 and 12.0 points per outing.
Meanwhile, expected to lead the charge for the Filipinos is Justin Brownlee who is looking to once again lead Gilas to another drought-ending run after helping the team bring the Asian Games crown to the country after a 61-year wait.
Alongside him is the core of the golden team in June Mar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, CJ Perez, Chris Newsome and Calvin Oftana. Gilas, however, is only playing with an 11-man lineup following Scottie Thompson’s back injury.
Completing the cast are young guns Kai Sotto, Dwight Ramos, Carl Tamayo, Kevin Quiambao and Mason Amos.
