Philippine national basketball coach Chot Reyes says his Gilas Pilipinas team is excited to begin its tune-up games for the 2014 FIBA World Cup which begins in late August.
In an overseas telephone conversation with the Manila Standard/Viva Sports, Reyes said the players are ?okay and coming along fine and are excited and looking forward to their first game against a top class selection from the Spanish pro league.
He said the team has been training ?very hard? and will likely face a tough test against the selection from the Spanish league which ?is a good combination.?
The game will be telecast by TV 5 at 8:00 p.m. on Monday followed by the Batang Gilas under 17 squad?s final group game against two-time champions, the United States at 10:30 p.m.
Reyes told the Standard her expects ?to see a lot more of naturalized player Andray Blatche? who has blended well with the rest of the team since he joined Gilas Pilipinas during their training stint in Miami, Florida where they won both practice games to get off to an encouraging start.
Reyes said ?we will see more of what he can do? in our tune-up games, beginning Monday.
The nationals will face France on August 16 with the game to be telecast at 5:00 p.m. followed by the game against Australia the next day with a 4:00 p.m. telecast.
On August 18 Gilas Pilipinas will go up against the redoubtable Ukraine team in an 8:00 p.m. telecast before five more games wind up their preparation for the World Cup.
In his twitter account Reyes encouraged the Batang Gilas team that will face the United States on Monday in their final group game after losing to Angola and Greece . He said ?Pinoy Basketball never backs down. Great fight Batang Gilas.?
Photo: Batche with Pangilinan.
Comments
Share your thoughts on the above article by Ronnie Nathanielsz.