FOR the country's top 3x3 players, there's really nothing quite like familiarity.
And that's what Joshua Munzon and Taylor Statham are banking on as they reunite with Dylan Ababou and Troy Rike with Pasig Chooks in time for the 2019 Fiba 3x3 Huaqiao International Kunshan Challenger this weekend.
"We won the local league championship together so I feel like we have that chemistry," said Munzon as the original Pasig quartet goes to action for the first time since winning the President's Cup.
Ababou has been out since suffering a strained right calf in the fourth leg of the President's Cup.
Rike, meanwhile, last saw action in the Asia Pacific Super Quest before taking a backseat for Serbian import Nikola Pavlovic in the Doha Masters.
"I have the utmost confidence in Troy and Dylan," said Statham. "We played together for four months and it doesn't matter how good players are, the team camaraderie is what's so important. And you can't replicate experience."
Pasig Chooks will have its hands full in the final qualifier for the Chengdu Masters as it is slotted in Pool A, where it is set to face world no. 3 Liman of Serbia and Sosnovy BorCopRosatom of Russia.
Though it won't have the services of injured reinforcements Pavlovic (swollen swollen left hand) and Angelo Tsagarakis (semi-fractured rib) for the Kunshan tiff, what Pasig Chooks will gain is the familiarity that led to it winning two legs and the eventual Grand Finals in the local tourney.
"Experience is everything in 3x3," said Munzon. "We definitely hope they get their rhythm and can contribute and do their thing too."
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
