HINDI porke sa Pilipinas gaganapin ang 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament ay sigurado nang mananalo ang Gilas Pilipinas.
Sa katunayan, dehadong maituturing ang mga Pinoy laban sa mga tulad ng France, Turkey at Canada.
Gayunpaman, inaasahan ni Gilas head coach Tab Baldwin na maglalaro ng siyento porsyento ang kanyang koponan.
“I’m not a big one for predictions. I know you look back to the history of sports, and I mean what I say, we are significant underdogs,” sabi ni Baldwin Huwebes ng gabi pagkatapos ng praktis sa Mall of Asia Arena kung saan din gaganapin ang mga laro.
“Underdogs win sometimes. We take heart from that. We don’t ask for a miracle nor expect a miracle, but we expect an opportunity and we expect to build the strength of our team to the best that can be.”
Kagrupo ng Pilipinas ang New Zealand at France habang nasa kabilang bracket naman ang Canada, Turkey at Senegal.
Unang makakasagupa ng Pilipinas ang France sa Hulyo 5 at susundan ito ng New Zealand kinabukasan.
“We recognize France as a legitimate top five team in the world and they’re bringing in a strong team here. They have every intention of winning the OQT, so it’s a big task, but we’re going to show up with every intention to win. We’re not playing for second place in that game,” ani Baldwin.
“We get New Zealand the next day, and they look like a team that is playing more at our level, but they have a lot more experience than us at this level. They’ve got a very strong group of campaigners in that team. They’re not going to be as big as they could have been, but at the same time, they’re a team that has some size and a lot of experience.”
Ayon kay Baldwin malaking bagay ang pagiging host ng bansa sa torneong ito dahil naniniwala siyang magiging ‘sixth man’ ng koponan ang Filipino fans.
“We’ve got our hands full. We know that and the people know that, whether they would like to admit it or not,” sabi ni Baldwin. “But we know that when this place is packed, it’s worth some points for us and we hope to exploit that to the best of our abilities and give them something to cheer about.”
Isang Olympic slot lamang ang pinag-aagawan ng anim na bansa sa torneong ito.
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