GILAS Pilipinas plays China in a one-game exhibition a day before it leaves for Belgrade, Serbia for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Coach Tab Baldwin and his young gritty team will face the Chinese side led by former NBA player Zhou Qi in a tune-up match before both teams depart Clark in separate flights for their respective OQT campaigns.
The game against the Chinese is set on June 23 at 4:30 p.m. at the Angeles University Foundation gym.
Originally, Gilas and China were eyeing a two-game exhibition, but opted to make it just a single game given the time constraints the two teams had prior to departure.
The national team leaves for Belgrade shortly after lunch on June 24. No morning practice is scheduled on that day, although the players will have their weights training program from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
From Clark, the team travels to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport for their flight to Belgrade.
Baldwin is not wasting time while the team is in the Clark bubble.
The Filipinos were just given an off Monday following their three-game sweep of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers that came to a close on Sunday. They capped their campaign with a repeat win against rival South Korea.
By Tuesday, Gilas will be back on the playing court to resume its training for the OQT before facing the Chinese the following day.
Even after the game against China, the team is scheduled to practice for one last time from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Gilas is scheduled to play Serbia and Dominican Republic in Belgrade for the June 29 to July 4 qualifier.
Like the Philippines, China will also see action in a separate Olympic qualifier slated in Victoria, Canada to play Greece and the host country.
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