The Philippine men’s national basketball team – nicknamed the Gilas Pilipinas – enter their final stages of preparation for the Fiba Asia Men’s Championship as they take on PBA squad Talk N Text at the start of the MVP Cup today at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
With head coach Tab Baldwin finally naming his final line-up for the Olympic qualifying tournament that will be held in Changsha, China in less than two weeks time, the Gilas will be seeking to sharpen their sets starting with the Tropang Texters who graciously took the place of supposed guest team Lebanon who begged off from joining this tournament.
Making the final cut were Cebuanos Terrence Romeo, Sonny Thoss and Dondon Hontiveros, Asi Taulava, Calvin Abueva, Ranidel de Ocampo, Matt Ganuelas, JC Intal, Gabe Norwood, Marc Pingris, Jayson Castro and naturalized player Andray Blatche.
Talk ‘N Text is hoping to give the Gilas a run for their money with the return of former Gilas pool members, Moala Tautuaa and Troy Rosario, the top two picks of the PBA Draft this year. They will be joining a formidable Texters squad that also has Larry Fonacier, Ryan Reyes and Denok Miranda.
New Zealand and Chinese Taipei clash in the first game set at 4:15 p.m. The teams will play a single round-robin with the team with the most wins at the end of the tournament being hailed as champion and recipient of the $25,000 cash prize.
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