A YOUNG, tall, running, athletic team.
Mark Barrocasees the current Gilas Pilipinas unit as such after seeing the team up close during its tune up game against Magnolia on Friday at the Meralco gym.
Those same qualities powered the national team past the Hotshots, 93-77.
See Parks, second unit carry Gilas past Magnolia in tuneup game
Barroca, 35, said the running pace and outside shooting did Magnolia in after starting the game on a high note.
“Maganda yung takbuhan nila kasi maraming shooters, tapos kundisyon pa lahat. Mas bata rin sila, so yung hunger nandun,” he noted of the Gilas team bound for the Fiba Basketball World Cup next month.
The national team played without a naturalized player as Justin Brownlee sat out the game and watched on the sidelines alongside Scottie Thompson and Kai Sotto.
Still, Barroca was left impressed with the way the Gilas team of coach Chot Reyes played.
“Maganda yung sistema nila coach, yung pace nila nandoon. Sobrang bilis nila,” said the veteran guard, who played for the national team in the 2019 Fiba World Cup in China.
“At yun naman kailangan natin, kasi yun talaga ang chance natin sa international, e. Kaya dapat mabilis talaga yung pace natin at may pressure tayo.”
And the nature of the game for Gilas is bound to get even better once Jordan Clarkson and young big man Kai Sotto are integrated into the training pool.
“Wala pa sina Kai at Clarkson. So mag-i-iba pa (ang laro) after two weeks siguro,” he said.
As it is, the World Cup-bound national team appears to have the right pieces at the moment, according to Barroca.
“Maganda pa kasi malalaki yung guards kayang makipag-switch. Yan sina Newsome. Kayang makipag-compete,” the Magnolia guard out of Far Eastern University added.
“Puro athletic lahat. So, yun ang advantage ngayon. Tapos ang bibilis at ang lalakas nila.”
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