Gilas-Pilipinas plays against Lithuanian clubs
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 05 Jun 2013
MANILA (PNA) -- Gilas-Pilipinas starts testing its potential to carry the country?s colors in the coming 27th FIBA-Asia championship when it faces powerhouse Klaipedos Neptunas opening its six-game tune up and exhibition series Wednesday at the Svyturio Arena in Klaipeda City in the Baltic Republic of Lithuania.
The 13-player selection comprising the national training pool arrived in Lithuania?s third largest city late Monday afternoon along with head coach Chot Reyes and team manager Butch Antonio following a 20-hour flight from Manila that saw them stop over in Bangkok and Copenhagen.
The pool, made up of Larry Fonacier, Jimmy Alapag, Jason Castro and Ranidel de Ocampo, all of Talk ?N Text, Gabe Norwood and Jeff Chan of Rain Or Shine, Mark Pingris of San Mig Coffee, June Mar Fajardo of Petron, and L.A. Tenorio of of Barangay Ginebra, Gary David and Japeth Aguilar of Barako Bull, naturalized player Marcus Douthit and last minute addition Beau Belga, also of the Elsto Painters, actually had the first taste of their 16-day training camp Tuesday at the Svyturio Arena training facilities.
The still travel-weary Filipinos and the Lithuanians battle at 7 p.m. (12 midnight) with Reyes? boys merely trying to size up the things in store for them in this trial run of what they will achieve in the camp.
Klaipedons Neptunas ended up third in the recent 2013 Challenge Cup of the Baltic professional league and should give the Nationals the competition they badly need since they begun practice session two weeks ago.
Its star-studded lineup includes Valdas Avsylius, a forward who played collegiate ball at the Old Dominion University and a member of the Lithuanian national team in the 2007 University Games.
The team is reinforced by another American-trained player, Rashun Eneal Broadus, a point-guard who saw action in the Brigham Young University in the Unites States NCAA besides spending, too, a few years in the European leagues. Completing the Klaipedos Neptunas lineup are 6-foot-8 center Vytautas Sarakauskas, shooting guard Marius Runkauskas, Marrinas Maseika, Daviud McLure, Deividas Gailius, Raimundas Danys, Laurynas Mikalaukas, Simas Galdikas, Geidrius Gustas, Arnas Butkevicius and Evaldas Danys. Coach is Marksvytis Kazys.
Reyes expressed high hopes that the Lithuania camp can fill the vacuum left by the delay in the implementation of the training program brought about by injuries to some of the original members of the pool ? Kelly Williams, Jarred Dillinger and Ryan Reyes, also of TnT, and Sonny Thoss of Alaska Milk -- he named last February yet.
Depending on how the players respond to the rigors of the camp and their performance in the tune up games lined up for them, Reyes and Antonio believe chances are that the final composition of the Philippine team will be finalized when the delegation heads for home in middle of this month.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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