By JEREMIAH SEVILLA
CLARK FREEPORT – Rain or Shine’s Gabe Norwood and TNT’s Troy Rosario said their Gilas Pilipinas stints have greatly helped them keep up with the grind in the compressed PBA Philippine Cup under a bubble set-up.
The 35-year-old Norwood played for the national team in FIBA-sanctioned tournaments – most notably the 2014 World Cup – and other international competitions where schedules were tight.
“It definitely helps. We have a lot of guys on our roster who have played in this kind of format but on a smaller scale,” said the 6-foot-6 forward, who has been wearing the national tri-colors since the last decade.
“It helps us in terms of our mental approach, not getting too high on wins, not getting too low on losses and just continuing to find our flow,” added the Fil-Am cager from North Carolina.
On the other hand, Rosario, 28, represented the country in the William Jones Cup in 2015, the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in 2016, the past three SEA Games and three SEABA tourneys.
The 6-foot-7 forward also credited the team’s overseas training for their ability to quickly adapt with the bubble environment.
“‘Yung advantages talagang madadala namin dito. Sanay na ‘yung katawan at isip namin,” said the product of National University.
