SBP to bolster lineup
SBP 3x3 project head Mark Solano said yesterday the Philippine team competing in the FIBA U18 3x3 World Cup in Chengdu, China, on June 28-July 2 will be different from the squad that finished seventh of 16 in the FIBA Asia U18 3x3 Championships in Cyberjaya, Malaysia, last weekend.
“We’ll study the options,” said Solano who led the Philippine delegation of junior men and women in Malaysia. “We might keep (Rhayyan) Amsali but maybe, we’ll invite Encho Serrano and Miguel Gomez de Liano to join our pool.” In the Philippines’ provisional lineup for the World Cup, the SBP listed Amsali, Gomez de Liano, Will Gozum and Joshua Ramirez.
Amsali, 16, has played in the last two FIBA Asia U18 3x3 Championships. He was the Philippines’ top scorer in Cyberjaya, finishing No. 15 in the tournament. The Philippines wound up with a 1-2 overall record, beating Kazakhstan, 1813 and losing to Malaysia, 21-17 in the preliminaries than bowing to Qatar, 20-17 in the knockout quarterfinals. The Philippines was up, 16-15, with about two minutes left before Qatar rallied for the win. Aside from Amsali, the other Filipino players were Michael Malonzo, Kris Pagsanjan and Andrew Velasco. Here’s how they scored in three games – Amsali 19, Velasco 15, Pagsanjan 10 and Malonzo 8.
Despite failing to advance to the Final Four, the Philippines managed to garner enough ranking points to qualify for the World Cup where eight Asian teams are participating. The others are host China, Turkmenistan, Bahrain, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, South Korea and Indonesia. In terms of world ranking points, the Philippines is No. 8 and the second highest Asian country in the ladder behind No. 4 Kyrgyzstan.
Solano explained that world ranking points determine which teams qualify for the World Cup. “It’s also important to finish high in the Asia Cup,” he said. “We’re blessed to have garnered enough world ranking points because of our participation in last year’s national team tournaments. FIBA rewards countries that are actively staging 3x3 tournaments with world ranking points and we received additional points for participating and finishing seventh in the Asia Cup.”
In the final, China beat ChineseTaipei, 17-12. China’s Hoanan Li was named tournament MVP for scoring nine points in the title game and 33 overall. Solano said Chinese-Taipei did not gather enough ranking points to qualify for the World Cup. Qatar beat Lebanon for the bronze medal.
In the junior women division, the Philippines got off to a strong start in Cyberjaya, bowling over Lebanon, 21-12 and Bahrain, 21-3 in the preliminaries. But in the knockout quarterfinals, Singapore surprised the Philippines, 16-9. The Philippines finished fifth of 16 and although No.6 in Asia, failed to qualify for the World Cup because of lack of ranking points.
Kristine Cayabyab was in the top 10 in scoring with 21 points. The other Filipina scorers were Mayu Goto 12, Melody Cac 10 and Reynalyn Ferrer eight. The Philippine junior women averaged 17 points while the junior men, 17.3.
In Chengdu, the Philippines is bracketed with the Netherlands, Poland, Turkmenistan and Israel. Group B is made up of Ukraine, New Zealand, Bahrain, Qatar and Georgia. Hungary, Slovenia, China, Turkey and South Korea are in Group C while Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Indonesia, Belgium and Uganda comprise Group D.
Last year, the Philippines finished 17th of 20 at the FIBA U18 3x3 World Cup in Astana, Kazakhstan. The team was composed of Joshua Sinclair, John Lloyd Clemente, Kyle Tan and Joshua Flores. Sinclair was the Philippines’ top scorer with 26 points in four games. The Philippines upset Hungary, 18-17, but lost to New Zealand, 21-11, Brazil, 20-14 and Spain, 16-14.