Sirius Star Pilipinas coaching staff and players pose for a group photo during a presser on Sunday. | Glendale Rosal
CEBU CITY, Philippines— After a successful tour in the Visayas and Mindanao, the Sirius Star Pilipinas basketball team gears up for their toughest exhibition matches in Cebu later this month.
The team comprised of American collegiate and pro-am players will face the all-star selection of the Northball Basketball in back-to-back exhibition games scheduled at the Carmen Sports Complex in northern Cebu on April 22 and at the Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Complex on April 23.
In a press conference on Sunday, April 16, Sirius Star Pilipinas team captain Anthony Winningham, who also represents US-based Ball Up Sports, said that they’re preparing to face Northball and promises Cebuano basketball fans a highly-entertaining basketball showdown.
“What makes this group of guys special is they’re different. They have better basketball IQ, each player that are in here understands the game. Most of the guys here I’ve seen played back in the United States. This group of guys I witnessed them play personally. Now we have 20 guys have played together and known each other personally, that makes us more competitive and more like a family,” said Winningham.
The team’s roster is composed of a new batch of players from the United States, replacing those who took part in the Visayas and Mindanao tours that started last March, visiting various cities and towns.
“Me and coach Albert, we’ve been preparing for this for seven tours already. So now we have the knowledge to drill our culture and put our brand of basketball to these opponents,” said Winningham.
For Alocillo, part of their preparation will be proper adjustment to fit every player they send on the floor.
“We will try to balance everything and adjust depending on our opponents. We’re preparing for Northball and the players there who are mostly PBA players. Probably we make adjustments on beating them,” said Alocillo, who also coached the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers in the PBA D-League.
Unique Basketball Experience
Aside from preparing against Northball, Winningham also shared some of his insights during their basketball tour which he described as a unique and beautiful experience for them.
“I think, everytime on every single tour that we had is always a different experience. I think, we always go to a new place and a new experience,” said Winningham who was joined by 20 other American basketball players during the presser that was held in a restaurant along Mango Avenue in Cebu City.
“Each island is unique and have their own unique identity, that’s what makes this experience beautiful and allows us putting in more shows and growing our fanbase, that’s the biggest things for us. Travelling to Mindanao was different when we went to Maasin. the experience was different,” he added.
On the other hand, Northball Basketball will be composed of PBA players in JR Quiñahan, Marion Mangubat and Robert Bolick along with Cebuano standouts Emmanuel Goc-ong, Froilan Mangubat and Steve Nash Enriquez.
Joining them are MAVS Phenom stars Gerard Zalameda, Bam Palaña, Richard Velchez, Poypoy Actub, and former member Kyt Jimenez.
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