Reyes in Spain, awaits World Cup bracketing by Jonas Panerio Correspondent
Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes is eagerly anticipating which bracket his team would be placed in during the official draw of the 2014 Fiba World Cup which will be done early this morning in the city of Barcelona, Spain. Reyes arrived in the host country of the said tournament along with team manager Aboy Castro and logistics manager Andrew Teh to attend the draw as well as inspect the facilities of the city where the Gilas will be playing.
And with Fiba officially naming Brazil, Greece, Turkey and Finland as the wildcard entries in the 24-country tournament, the Gilas are expected to be in for the battle of their basketball careers in the competition slated for August. Surprisingly left out from the tournament are Asian powerhouse China, 2012 bronze medalists Russia and Germany, Italy and Canada, all of whom are ranked in the top-25.
The 24 countries playing in the World Cup are No. 1 US, No. 2 Spain, No. 3 Argentina, No. 4 Lithuania, No. 5 Greece, No. 7 Turkey, No. 8 France, No. 9 Australia, No. 10 Brazil, No. 11 Serbia, No. 13 Slovenia, No. 15 Angola, No. 16 Croatia, No. 17 Puerto Rico, No. 19 New Zealand, No. 20 Iran, No. 24 Mexico, No. 26 Dominican Republic, No. 31 Korea, No. 34 Philippines, No. 39 Finland, No. 41 Senegal, No. 45 Ukraine and No. 46 Egypt.
OPPOSING NATURALIZATION
In related news, local basketball officials headed by University of Cebu’s Dean of Law and basketball team manager Atty. Baldomero Estenzo along with Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) commissioner Felix Tiukinhoy are poised to block the move to naturalize two NBA players for the Gilas pool with a petition that the former will be sending to the House committee.
“Ila giduwa-duwaan lang ang atoang citizenship. We know that this is a numbers game and chances are we will lose but we just want everybody to know that there are people in this country who oppose these bills,” explained Estenzo in an interview yesterday.
“Sports is all about following the rules. Why can’t we do that here? Why can’t we just follow the process. Why, will we be champions if we get these players?” Estenzo further contended that the 1954 Philippine team that competed in the 1954 Fiba World Championship brought home the bronze with a team composed of pure Filipinos.
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