AFTER falling short in the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games, the Gilas men and women squads try to redeem themselves when they go into battle in the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup in Singapore.
The men’s squad, which settled for the bronze in Hanoi, will be led by the core of PBA 3×3 third conference grand champion TNT.
Almond Vosotros, Lervin Flores and Samboy De Leon of the Tropang Giga, along with Joseph Eriobu of Purefoods, make up the Gilas men’s quartet, with coach Lester del Rosario of Pioneer calling the shots.
Gilas 3×3 men tangle with Jordan today at 10:50 a.m. and Indonesia at 8:45 p.m.
The women’s side is composed of Afril Bernardino, the only returning player from the last SEA Games team; Camille Clarin, Khate Castillo and Trina Guytingco.
The Gilas belles launch their campaign tomorrow against Jordan and Thailand.
“We’ve been training ever since we got back from the SEA Games. We just took two weeks off just for the recovery (of our bodies) and went back to training. Ever since, we’ve been working on our skills, shooting, all-around. We’ve been doing it the best way we can with the people around and available,” Guytingco said.
“Other players also have other commitments, whoever was available, we just worked on what we needed to work on the best way we can, especially our defense and our shooting because shooting is big in 3×3,” she added.
Both squads will go through a qualifying draw, with only 12 teams advancing to the main draw where they will be grouped into four pools. The top two teams in each pool will advance to the playoffs.
The men’s team is pooled in Group C in the qualifying draw along with Indonesia and Lebanon, while the women cagers are in Group B together with Jordan and SEA Games gold medalist Thailand.
