Host PH braces vs formidable Canada, Russia

HOST Philippines needs to hurdle past two formidable foes today namely No. 14 Canada and No. 3 Russia to advance to the next round of the International Basketball Federation ( FIBA) 3X3 World Cup at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.

The No. 19 PH won 15-7 over No. 6 Brazil and lost 17- 21 to No. 11 Mongolia last Saturday for a 1- 1 record.

The Filipino team under coach Ronnie Magsanoc will take on Canada at 4: 50 p. m. and Russia at 7 p. m. in Pool C.

“We’re just going to fight hard because the experience of both teams are very high and their world rankings are high. We will do our best to compete against these elite teams and try to push it to endgame,” Magsanoc told TheManilaTimes.

The Canadian team is composed of Jermaine Bucknor ( 6’ 7), Michael Lieffers ( 6’ 7), Michael Linklater ( 5’ 10) and Steve Sir ( 6’ 5). Canada is unbeaten in two games in Pool C after cruising past Mongolia ( 21- 15) and Russia ( 20- 17).

The Russian team, holding a 1- 1 record similar to PH, is composed of Ilya Alexandrov ( 6’ 4), Maksim Dybovskii ( 6’ 5), Dmitry Korshakov ( 6’ 7) and Victor Pavlenko ( 6’ 5).

Magsanoc said that they have learned a hard lesson after squandering an 8- 3 lead last Saturday.

“We had our chances and it’s all about knowing how to win in the end and I think Mongolia’s experience is bigger than us in terms of 3- on- 3 way. But there’s no excuse about it,” said Magsanoc.

Stanley Pringle of GlobalPort, Roger Pogoy and Troy Rosario of TNT KaTropa and Christian Standhardinger of San Miguel Beer comprised the PH team.

Meanwhile, No. 1 and undefeated Serbia will take on No. 9 Romania at 1: 40 p.m. and No. 17 Kyrgyzstan at 3:10 p.m. today. Serbia beat No. 8 Netherlands (21-17) and No. 16 New Zealand (22-13) in Pool A last Saturday.