GILAS Pilipinas is eyeing Europe as destination for its training camp ahead of the Fiba-Asia Men’s Championship.
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) deputy director for international affairs Butch Antonio disclosed the European trip will possibly be limited to one location – either late in July or early August – given the short preparation time the national team will have for the Olympic qualifying tournament set in Changsa, Hunan, China.
“We're still in the process of working out a possible venue in Europe, though the training will be limited to just one location para not too much movement,” Antonio told Spin.ph.
 |
| photo (c) Jaime Campos |
The destination could just possibly be in Germany and France, which are close to each other.
“Para di na masyadong maraming pupuntahan,” Antonio added.
Since the PBA calendar won’t end until the middle of July, Antonio said the best the SBP could do now is to come up with a concise training program leading to Gilas' participation in the Fiba-Asia tournament, where the winner earns a berth to the Rio de Janeiro Games next year.
Antonio said Gilas is also expected to join this year's William Jones Cup in Taipei after a two-year absence.
“Coach Tab (Baldwin) and I are working out the best type of training that could maximize the time for Gilas,” he added.
During the run-up to the Fiba World Cup last year, former Gilas coach Chot Reyes opted to have the team spend more than a month in Europe to play a series of tune-up matches against crack European ball clubs and the national team of France.
Gilas went on to register the country's first victory in the world championships in 40 years behind an 81-79 overtime win over Senegal in last day of the preliminary round.
Source: Richard Dy of Spin.ph
