Kai, Raven form twin towers

MANILA, Philippines — Batang Gilas coach Mike Oliver said yesterday he plans to deploy 7-1 Kai Sotto and 6-7 Raven Cortez together to form a towering combination against Croatia in the Philippines’ opener of the FIBA U17 World Cup at the Newell’s Old Boys stadium in Rosario, Argentina, on Saturday (Sunday 4:30 a.m., Manila time).

It’s a tall order for Batang Gilas to score even a win in Group D where the Philippines is bracketed with three world top 10 teams, No. 7 France, No. 8 Argentina and No. 10 Croatia. The Philippines, ranked No. 34, battles Croatia on Saturday, France on Sunday and Argentina on Tuesday. All four squads advance to the knockout Round of 16 on Wednesday. If the Philippines finishes fourth in Group D, it will face the Group C top-notcher, likely to be world No. 2 Canada, in the Round of 16.

Oliver said despite the odds, Batang Gilas will fight to the end. The team arrived in Buenos Aires last Friday, stayed two nights in the Argentine capital then took a 3 1/2 hour bus ride to Rosario where Groups C and D games are scheduled. Groups A and B games will be played in Santa Fe. 

Assistant team manager Wilbert Loa said Oliver is conducting twice-a-day practices, 1 1/2 hours each. “Rosario’s weather is cold,” said Loa. “Carl (Tamayo) has a mild sprain and will resume practice today. Otherwise, everyone’s healthy. Sa tingin ko, we have a chance to win one or two games. Coach Mike will decide on our final 12-man lineup the day before our first game.”

Coincidentally, Croatia was the first opponent of Gilas at the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Sevilla, Spain. Gilas nearly upset the heavily-favored Croatians who escaped with an 81-78 overtime win. In Argentina, the Philippines was drawn into the Group of Death.

“Focus of our practices is understanding our system and defensive schemes,” said Oliver. “Croatia has a lot of movement and screens in their offense. Fords (Padrigao) is our main point guard and wings are R. C. Calimag and Mac Guadana. Kai and Raven will be playing together most of the time.” Oliver said at the U17 level, the bodies of European players are more developed than Filipinos so that he expects the competition to be physical.

Team manager Andrew Teh, who skipped the Argentina trip to coordinate Gilas’ journey to Taipei for the third FIBA Asia/Pacific World Cup qualifying window, said Batang Gilas’ objective is to prepare for the FIBA Asia U18 Cup in Nonthaburi, Thailand, on Aug. 5-11. The draw for the Thai tournament is set on July 6. The top four finishers of the FIBA Asia U18 Cup will represent the zone at the FIBA U19 World Cup next year.

“About seven players in Argentina are high potentials for the FIBA Asia U18 Cup,” said Teh. “Our group is tough and I think it will be a good wake-up call for our boys to excel and train more. It will be a reality check.” Teh said Batang Gilas assistant coach Josh Reyes is the incoming head coach of the U18 team.