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Gilas Pilipinas 3x3 shifts OQT preps to high gear


Gilas Pilipinas 3x3 is facing a tough week ahead as it reconvenes at the training bubble in Calamba, Laguna for the final and crucial stretch for the 2021 FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Alvin Pasaol, after missing out the first week at camp, has completed his protocols and will now rejoin the cast composed of Joshua Munzon, CJ Perez, Moala Tautuaa, and Leonard Santillan for the qualifiers set from May 26 to 30 in Graz, Austria.

“The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas did a tremendous job of collecting these talented players into one team so our job is to make sure we’ll have a cohesive unit,” said head coach Ronnie Magsanoc in a statement.

“We thank the SBP for giving us a safe training environment here so we can devote all our focus on our preparation for the qualifiers. There have been challenges along the way but we’re happy that the team is finally complete.”

Gilas 3x3, currently placed no. 20 in the world, will be facing no. 26 Qatar and no. 4 Slovenia on May 26 while taking on no. 33 Dominican Republic and no. 10 France on the 28th in Pool C. They are expected to leave for Austria on May 23.

The road won’t definitely be smooth for the nationals as they will have to win as many games as possible as only the top two teams from each of the four pools will qualify for the quarterfinals. The three podium finishers will be earning a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics.

The three qualified nations will join host team Japan along with China, Russia, and Serbia, who booked an outright berth owing to the FIBA 3x3 ranking points.

“In terms of effort, I really could not ask for anything more from the players during our first week of training and they also did their best to build on that with our online training sessions,” added Magsanoc.

“Now it’s about bringing everything together and forming a team that we can be proud of, a team that can compete against the best in the world.” —Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA News