ISAAC Go may be one of the few bigs Gilas Pilipinas currently has, but he feels lucky already to be mentored by a few old national team members in his short time with the pool.
The 6-foot-8 center credits Ranidel de Ocampo and Troy Rosario as among those who have been immensely helpful to him since he was named as a part of the revamped Gilas pool late last year.
Go even told The Prospects Pod that he has always looked up and tried to mold his game after that of De Ocampo.
"I’ve had the chance to talk to kuya Ranidel and may time na nagpang-abot kami sa Meralco and nagpa-practice sila before us. So paminsan-minsan, naguusap kami," he said.
De Ocampo who retired in April and has since been hired to be an assistant coach for his old club TNT is the perfect model for Go -- an undersized forward who can hold his own down low while also being able to shoot the long ball.
It's these traits which have made RDO one of the fixtures for the national team in the 2010s, where he won a pair of silver medals in the Fiba Asia Championship.
"He's had a long career and at 6-foot-6, he's playing an international four. That’s really undersized, but he’s been effective and he’s been a mainstay in Gilas," said Go.
"There are things in his game that I can pick up from him and I think I can translate with mine going forward."
As for Rosario, Go said that the TNT forward has taken the time to show him the ropes, especially last February during Gilas' game against Indonesia in the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers in Jakarta.
"When we were in Indonesia, si Troy inaaya niya ako na, 'Uy George, tara.' Tapos lalabas lang kami at maguusap or titingin-tingin lang," he said.
"But you learn a lot from these guys, on how they act, the way they prepare for the game and the way they carry themselves on the court. Syempre bago lang ako and kailangan ko makinig. I have to watch how they do it and at the same time, how they perform on the court."
Seeing and hearing from veteran internationalists are crucial, if Go will be asked, as the former Ateneo standout aims to replicate the level of success they had wearing the national tri-colors.
"It was a great experience with them and lahat sila naman tumutulong sa akin, parang little tricks here and there, so it's just the whole experience," he said.
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