By REYNALD MAGALLON
Rain or Shine is expected to have its hands full in the 42nd William Jones Cup with national teams including the World Cup-bound team Iran, serving as its competition in the prestigious tiff set from Aug. 12 to 20 in Taipei, Taiwan.
The Elasto Painters head coach Yeng Guiao welcomed the challenge of flying the country’s colors but also admitted that his young charges will be facing an uphill climb against a high caliber field.
“Ang Jones Cup napaka tough, mabigat na tournament ito. Unang una, mga national teams ang kasama dyan. Number two, kailangan talaga may import ka kasi ang lalaki ng mga makakalaban mo dyan,” said Guiao in an interview with the Power and Play with Kom Noli on Saturday, July 22.
Guiao pointed out the participation of the Iranian national team which will be using the tournament as preparation for the World Cup which will happen in the country starting Aug. 25.
Iran, currently no. 22 in the latest FIBA ranking, could be bannered by its top players in the likes of Hamed Haddadi, Behnam Yakhchali and Mohammad Jamshidi who all led the team in the Asian qualifiers.
Of course, staples in the tournament are the two national teams of Chinese Taipei while United Arab Emirates is also sending its national squad. Aside from them, NCAA Division I team UC Irvine will also be joining the tournament while Japan will be represented by one of its top collegiate teams.
Rain or Shine, however, is not the type to back down against such competition, seeing the tough matches as a way to fast-track the development of his young players.
“Gusto namin matuto, maexperience ng mga locals namin, kasi yung mga locals namin mga bata e. Gusto namin na makita nila gaano katindi ang competition dito,” stressed Guiao whose team is also gearing up for the upcoming 48th season of the PBA.
Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player Ange Kouame is set to reinforce a young local core that has Rey Nambatac, Anton Asistio, Andrei Caracut, Gian Mamuyac Shaun Ildefonso and Leonard Santillan.
