BY ABBY TORALBA
FACING an equally determined Gilas Pilipinas side in a no-tomorrow tiff tonight, veteran Italy forward Luigi Datome is expecting a dogfight.
“(It’s) a very important game to prepare (for), to play, and to move forward to the second round. We will prepare but (also) keep on believing in ourselves, of course,” Datome said.
“We’ll keep on trusting each other and we’re now gonna be hard like it was hard today, like it was two days ago,” he added.
The Azzurri will go into the battle aching to rebound from an 82-87 stunner at the hands of the Dominican Republic last Sunday.
Datome, 35, said the Italians will be ready against Gilas.
“We’re old enough, everybody went through important games, everybody plays tough on court. It’s gonna be exciting, I think. It will be a nice atmosphere. All the players love to play in a nice atmosphere,” Datome said.
“I’ve got to better control what we do on the court. All the rest is just the environment– we need to focus on our job.”
Datome said his team is wary of Gilas naturalized star Jordan Clarkson but is convinced they have what it takes.
“Of course, the Philippines, like the Dominican Republic, have a single great player. They’re a good team. For sure, it’s very important to limit this player,” he said.
“But you cannot stop them, they’re so good. You have to limit them with teamwork and pay attention to the others because they’re all good players. (Also), (we) have a game plan and try to execute it. Stick with it. At the end of the day, we try to do the same thing.”
