Gilas win vs Congo sets up Spain clash
Gilas Pilipinas eyes another win over Congo and set up a potential encounter with host Spain in the start of the fourteam pocket tournament early Saturday in Malaga.
The Nationals battle the Congolese at 1:30 a.m. Manila time at the Torneo de Malaga with the winner advancing to the championship game of the pocket tournament against either the 2006 FIBA world champion Spain or Ivory Coast.
Coach Yeng Guiao’s squad arrived Thursday in Malaga after spending the past three days in Guadalajara.
During their stay, the national squad beat Congo, 102-80, and Ivory Coast, 94
83, at the Palacio Multiusos de Guadalajara.
“Winning against these two African teams gives us confidence that we can play against bigger and stronger teams,” Guiao told ESPN5’s SportsCenter Philippines.
Naturalized player Andray Blatche hopes to repeat his strong showing against Congo where he posted 25 points.
But Guiao believes Gilas will have a harder time now against Congo, which he felt took them for granted when the two nations first met.
“We’ll have a tougher time against Congo,” Guiao said. “I think they underestimated us because we were smaller and thinner.”
The possibility of battling Spain in the final will be beneficial for Gilas ahead of its Group D games in the FIBA World Cup against Italy on Aug. 31 and Serbia on Sept. 2 in Foshan, China.
“This is going to approximate our games against Italy and Serbia. Masusukat na naman natin sarili natin dito kung hanggang saan tayo (We will be able to measure ourselves as to where we are now). Then we have about two weeks to make some adjustments,” he said.