Mark Yee joins Manila Chooks TM for FIBA 3x3 World Tour

Former professional basketball player Mark Yee will join Manila Chooks TM in the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Montreal Masters.

Yee, who is currently affiliated with the Davao Occidental Tigers in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, will join Manila holdovers Mac Tallo, Zach Huang, and Dennis Santos. Chico Lanete will serve as an alternate.

Manila Chooks TM head coach Aldin Ayo said the limitations brought by the imposition of community quarantines made them settle for online training, at least for now. Nonetheless, they are continuing to study the opponents' tactics to prepare for the tournament.

"With regards to conditioning, there will be no problem as we made sure that the players figured in high-intensity workouts," Ayo said. "The chemistry will also be there since the team has been together for three months already."

"But the tournament itself is a different beast. With the limitations that we have, we studied a lot of films on our possible opponents and we are hoping that the preparations translate to winning games," he added.

Sports patron and Chooks-to-Go president Ronald Mascariñas is confident that despite the setbacks, participating in the tournament will make the team better.

"The team is hungry to redeem themselves," Mascarin?as said. "They have been ready since May but unfortunately their Croatian visas did not make it in time for the FIBA 3×3 Lipik Challenger."

"There have been a lot of challenges faced by the team brought about by the current pandemic but we are confident that frequent participation in the FIBA 3x3 pro circuit will only make the team stronger," he added.

The Montreal tournament has 12 teams, bannered by Latvia's Riga. The pools will be determined on September 3.

The tournament is scheduled for September 4-5.

—Justin Kenneth Carandang/JMB, GMA News