The Smart Gilas Pilipinas travels to New Zealand to play six games within 10 days as training in preparation for the 27th FIBA Asia Championship.
The team will take on the Hawkes Bay Hawks Friday and Saturday, the NBL All Stars Sunday, the Wellington Saints on July 16, the Auckland Rangers on July 17 and the Tall Blacks, New Zealand’s national team on the 18th.
Part of the New Zealand training is the selection on the Final 12 that will be tasked to accomplish the country’s dream of playing in the FIBA World Cup in Spain next year.
The 24-man pool Gilas submitted to FIBA Asia last month are: Marcus Douthit, Junmar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, Beau Belga, Ranidel de Ocampo, Marc Pingris, Jayson Castro, LA Tenorio, Jimmy Alapag, Gary David, Larry Fonacier, Jeff Chan, Gabe Norwood, Sonny Thoss, Greg Slaughter, Kelly Williams, Jared Dillinger, Ryan Reyes, Garvo Lanete, Matt Ganuelas, Kevin Alas, Jake Pascual, Ronal Pascual, and RR Garcia.
Lead by head coach Chot Reyes, he expects highly competitive games in New Zealand since the Kiwi players are in shape and are still playing in the ongoing NBL season.
The Smart Gilas Pilipinas won the 2012 Jones Cup as champions, but was earlier denied to defend their title this year as games are being held in Taipei.
