GILAS PILIPINAS TO FACE ARGENTINA AND PUERTO RICO WITH NBA PLAYERS IN FIBA WORLD CUP ELIMS
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 05 Feb 2014
Gilas Pilipinas national men?s basketball team was drawn into Group B with Argentina, Croatia, Greece, Puerto Rico, and Senegal for the FIBA World Cup in Spain. The Gilas players will have the the chance to play against Argentina?s clairvoyant superstar Manu Ginobili and other NBA stars as early as the preliminaries. The 35-year-old Ginobili is interested in playing for his national team if he stays healthy.
?It?s exciting to have the chance to play against a world class player and team like Manu Ginobili and Argentina,? Gilas team captain Jimmy Alapag was quoted by interAKTV. ?It will be a huge challenge for us, but a great opportunity to play one of the best in the world.?
?I?m excited,? added Gabe Norwood. ?I thought he retired from international play, but Manu or any player in our group will be world-class caliber, which is the ultimate challenge.?
Argentina will also parade other NBA players including Luis Scola of the Indiana Pacers, Pablo Prigioni of the New York Knicks, and Carlos Delfino of the Milwaukee Bucks. Puerto Rico has former Petron import Renaldo Balkman which was metted a lifetime ban from the PBA last year. He helped Puerto Rico in the FIBA Americas Championship last year.
Other Puerto Rican NBA players are JJ Barea of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Mo Harkless of the Orlando Magic, and former NBA point guard Carlos Arroyo. ?Puerto Rico will be another incredibly tough test for us. Balkman was dominant in his PBA stint, and he?ll also have NBA guards Barea and Arroyo with him in Spain,? said Alapag.
But Barangay Ginebra San Miguel star guard LA Tenorio was excited about playing with the best teams of the world. ?Actually, I don?t look forward to playing against Ginobili lang. I?m really looking forward to play in the World Cup against the top 24 teams in the world. It?s gonna be hard for sure,? said Tenorio over inter AKTV.
GROUP A - Spain, Serbia, France, Brazil, Egypt, and Iran
GROUP B - Philippines, Senegal, Puerto Rico, Argentina. Greece, Croatia
GROUP C - Dominican Republic, Turkey, USA, Finland, New Zealand, Ukraine
GROUP D - Slovenia, Lithuania, Angola, South Korea, Mexico, Australia
The tournament will take place in six cities Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Bilbao, Gran Canaria and Granada in Spain.
Photo: NBA player Manu Genobili (C) anchors Argentina in the Olympics.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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