Gilas cadets shoot for finals stint, face improving Singapore
Kiefer Ravena of Gilas Pilipinas drives against a Malaysian defender during their match Wednesday night. | Pool photo
Game Friday
5 p.m. – Philippines vs Singapore
KUALA LUMPUR – The Gilas cadets promise to leave nothing to chance as they tangle with Singapore in the semifinal round of the 29th SEA Games men’s basketball competition at the MABA Stadium here Friday.
Game time is at 5 p.m.
Singapore has had its improvement in the sport, placing third in the last two editions of the biennial meet in Jakarta in 2013 and at home in 2015.
The Singaporeans posted the same finishes in the 2013 and 2015 SEABA Championships in Medan then in Singapore.
Gilas coach Jong Uichico, the winning coach of the Philippines in the 2013 SEABA and SEAG, said the Singaporeans can compete if they’re to be taken for granted.
But Uichico assured that won’t be the case.
Gilas skipper Kiefer Ravena and the rest of the squad are determined to push their drive and be ready for the gold-medal game either against Thailand or Indonesia.
If it’s against Thailand, Bobby Ray Parks said he would be ready to defend Tyler Lamb.
It could also be a rematch of the 2015 finale between the Philippines and Indonesia.
“Whichever we play or every time we go out on the floor, we have to do what we’re supposed to do,” said Uichico, who’s now got a full complement of staff with the arrival assistant coach Josh Reyes and trainer Dexter Aseron, along with team manager Butch Antonio, from their FIBA Asia Cup journey in Lebanon.
The elite Gilas team failing to make the medal round in the Asian meet is an extra motivation for the Gilas cadets to keep the SEAG crown.
Meanwhile, Singapore is determined to make a podium finish here after missing the Top Three in the recent SEABA Championship at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
In SEABA, the Singaporeans dropped its matches to the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, and won only against Vietnam and Myanmar.
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