Gilas Pilipinas 'fan' Alex Cabagnot impressed by national team's composition

Even if he's away from the local basketball scene, Alex Cabagnot continues to follow the progress of the sport, especially that of Gilas Pilipinas.

That's why when given the chance to aid the national team, Cabagnot readily came back home to join his club, the Taiwan Mustangs, for a send-off friendly against Gilas Pilipinas on Monday at the PhilSports Arena.  

And Cabagnot was glad to be of help, even if he was on the other side of the court this time.

"We didn’t come here to just slouch over, we wanted to compete and we wanted to have a nice sparring. Good thing na pinili kami as a sparring partner nila," Cabagnot said after their 74-64 loss, where he tallied 13 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.

"We were fortunate na gano’n lang ‘yung lamang nila sa amin and I hope that we gave them a good tune-up. Sana nakatulong kami."

[We didn't come here to just slouch over, we wanted to compete and we wanted to have a nice sparring. Good thing we were chosen as a sparring partner for them... We were fortunate that their lead was only that much and I hope that we gave them a good tune-up. I hope we were able to help.]

Cabagnot admitted that he's an avid fan of Gilas, following all their games regardless of the results, and said he likes the composition of the squad as well as the system that Gilas head coach Tim Cone is running.

And as a former Gilas player himself, Cabagnot thinks the nationals are ready to take on the uphill battle in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament next month, where the Filipinos will slug it out against Georgia and Latvia in the final pathway to the Paris Games.

"Syempre naman. Of course they’re ready. Like I said, I’m just like one of you, I’m a big fan. I watch all the time and now that I actually played against them, I became more excited," Cabagnot, a nine-time PBA champion, added.

"Nafi-feel mo ‘yung camaraderie nila, the way their team work, ‘yung chemistry nila."

[Of course they're ready. Like I said, I'm just like one of you, I'm a big fan. I watch all the time and now that I actually played against them, I became more excited... You can feel their camraderie, the way their team works, their chemistry.]

What impressed the 41-year-old veteran more is the makeup of the team, with Justin Brownlee leading the squad as the naturalized player. On the locals side, his former San Miguel teammate June Mar Fajardo and youngster Kai Sotto will lead the front court while CJ Perez, Chris Newsome, and Dwight Ramos are tipped to lead the back court.

"Ang galing. May shooters, may penetrators, talagang triple threat sila and malalaki sila sa loob. And you know Brownlee’s a beast," he added.

"And hindi mo naman silang pwedeng maiwan kasi knockdown shooters sila. I think we were getting close kanina tapos they hit two three-pointers in a row, sabi ko ‘hala, ito na ‘to.’"

[It's great. There are shooters, penetrators, they are a triple threat and they have size inside. And you know Brownlee's a beast... You cant just leave them because they are knockdown shooters as well. I think we were getting close earlier and then they hit two three-pointers in a row and I knew that was it.]

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA Integrated News