By Ivan Stewart Saldajeno – PNA News
MANILA — The crucial part of the Gilas Pilipinas’ preparation for the fifth window of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers has already begun as Coach Yeng Guiao announced that the daily practice sessions of the national team kicked off with its Sunday night training at the Meralco Gym.
The Philippine Basketball Association announced on Saturday that the Governors’ Cup Finals between Magnolia and Alaska will begin on Dec. 5, effectively giving Gilas the green light to hold daily practices from hereon.
The main highlight of the daily grind, however, is a set of tune-up matches against Jordan and Lebanon this week.
“The goal is just to be able to get them into game shape,” Guiao explained the rationale behind the friendlies.
For the concurrent NLEX mentor, just being in good shape is not enough.
“I know they’re still in good shape coming from the last conference, but they haven’t really played competitive basketball the past week. So this is an important test for us in terms of getting ourselves–our bodies and minds–into game shape,” Guiao continued.
Jordan will be up first on Monday and Wednesday nights.
“Jordan is a strong team, so that would be a good test for us,” Guiao further said.
