MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines will join three other Asian countries Kazakhstan, Vietnam and Indonesia in battling for honors at the FIBA World U18 3x3 Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, on June 4-7 with coach John Flores bringing in an all-star cast of Cathedral College’s Kobe Paras, Ateneo’s Mike Nieto, La Salle Greenhills’ Ricci Rivero and Far Eastern University’s Richard Escoto.
The tournament will assemble 24 teams for boys and 24 teams for girls from 36 different countries. The games will be played at Kossuth Square facing the Reformed Great Church in line with FIBA’s guideline of staging the 3x3 event in a high-traffic district. No entrance fee will be charged for the competitions.
Flores said he picked the players from eight candidates who were outstanding in a recent three-day 3x3 series of tournaments at La Salle Greenhills. “Kobe flew in from Los Angeles just to play,” said Flores. “Actually, FIBA made a special request for Kobe to join because he was spectacular in winning the Slam Dunk Contest at the FIBA World U18 3x3 Championships in Jakarta two years ago. I consulted my La Salle Greenhills assistant coaches Cris Bautista and Benjie Sipin before making the final selection which was approved by the SBP.”
The other candidates for the team were Will Gozum and Jay de Liano of UP, Ateneo’s Matt Nieto and St. Benilde’s Dino San Juan.
Flores said the team will leave for Debrecen on June 1 and rendezvous with Paras who is arriving from Los Angeles. Head of delegation is SBP general counsel and FIBA legal commission member Edgar (Aga) Francisco who will attend the FIBA World 3x3 Congress in Debrecen. Flores said the team will be accompanied by physical therapist Gerald Ignacio. Benjie Paras may be included in the delegation as assistant coach.
The Philippines is bracketed in Group A with Hungary, Poland, Kazakhstan, Uruguay and Russia. Comprising Group B are Andorra, Germany, Romania, Egypt, Lithuania and Guatemala. Group C is composed of Brazil, New Zealand, Turkey, Estonia, France and Vietnam while Group D is made up of the US, Spain, Georgia, Indonesia, Puerto Rico and Argentina. Absent in the tournament are Australia, China and South Korea.
“We’re guaranteed to play five games in the preliminary stage,” said Flores who coached the Philippine team of Paras, Prince Rivero, Thirdy Ravena and Arvin Tolentino at the FIBA World U18 3x3 Championships two years ago. “The top four in each group advance to the knockout quarterfinals. The format is similar to the FIBA World Cup in Spain last year.”
Flores said there will be rule changes in this year’s tournament. “A dunk will be worth just one point like a layup unlike before when it was good for two points,” he said. “A three-point shot counts for two points. No player can foul out. In 2013, we were up by one over China with 12 seconds left and only Arvin was on the floor against three because our other players had fouled out. We ended up losing by forfeit when Arvin fouled out with six seconds to go. Because of that, FIBA amended the rule for Hungary. Instead of counting individual fouls, they will now count only team fouls. On the fifth team foul, there’s an extra free throw. On the seventh team foul, it’s an extra free throw and possession. On the 10th team foul, it’s an extra two free throws and possession.”
Each 3x3 game is for 10 minutes and a race to 21. If both teams are unable to score 21, the team with more points wins at the end of 10 minutes. If there is an overtime, the first team that is able to lead by two wins.
Flores said FIBA selected the countries to participate on the basis of points earned. “In 2013, we won the gold medal at the FIBA Asia U18 3x3 Championships in Bangkok and that qualified us for the World Championships in Jakarta,” he said. “This year, we qualified for Hungary through the points system. The SBP held a series of 3x3 tournaments to earn points to qualify us for the World Championships.”
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Flores said it won’t be easy advancing to the knockout quarterfinals. “We’ve got to finish in the top four to move up,” he said. “That puts pressure on us to beat Kazakhstan, Poland and maybe Uruguay. Hungary is the host country so they’ll have the home crowd cheering for them and Russia is a powerhouse. We’ve learned our lessons in previous 3x3 competitions so we’re going to Hungary ready to play.” Aside from the FIBA Asia U18 and FIBA World U18 3x3 Championships, Flores coached the Philippine team of Terrence Romeo, KG Canaleta, Rey Guevarra and Aldrech Ramos to fifth place at the FIBA World 3x3 Masters Tour in Sendai, Japan, last year.
“We’ll be one of the shortest teams for sure,” said Flores. “We won’t be able to post up like we did with Prince and Arvin before. We’ll play outside and use our quickness to penetrate with Ricci and Kobe. Richard and Mike will be our post defenders because they can hold their own against bigger guys. They may not be as big but they’ve got the heart to defend bigger guys.”
Flores said Paras will play a crucial role. “Kobe has matured physically,” he said. “His level of confidence has gone up. He’s never been as explosive as he is now. He can play inside or outside. We’ve practiced as a team twice. We’ll all arrive in Hungary on June 2 so we’ll have two days of practice before we start the competitions. We didn’t make to the quarterfinals in 2013. We hope we make it this year.”
Source: Joaquin Henson of Philippine Star
