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    NZ coach lauds Thirdy and Dwight, names another guard as his favorite

    NZ coach lauds Thirdy and Dwight, names another guard as his favorite
    Feb 28, 2022
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    Coach Pero Cameron said he was pleased the Tall Blacks were able to play Gilas in their return to action.
    PHOTO: fiba.basketball

    THIRDY Ravena and Dwight Ramos never gave up even with New Zealand stretching their lead over Gilas Pilipinas in their Sunday duel in the 2023 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers.

    The relentless play left a lasting impression on Tall Blacks mentor Pero Cameron.

    "Ramos is always tough. He’s a quality player. And also Thirdy Ravena, he’s exciting to watch also and it’s great seeing young talent coming through from the college ranks. It was really enjoyable," he said.

    Cameron was just all praises for every one in the Gilas roster, lauding their efforts on the heels of the Tall Blacks' 88-63 win, saying, "[Gilas has] a lot of quality players and I think it must have been tough getting the group together like most teams. They played pretty good."

    Aside from the two Japan B.League guards, Cameron made special mention of PBA guards Robert Bolick and Kib Montalbo.

    WIthout elaborating, he said Montalbo really caught his attention: "One of my favorite players to watch."

    Kib MontalboKib Montalbo plays nearly 11 minutes, missing his two field goal attempts against New Zealand after an eight-point game against India.

    Cameron also lauded Ange Kouame who, despite being agitated by Rob Loe, still showed his potential in manning the paint for Gilas.

    "Look, he’s a tremendous athlete. I think he’s in that role and he’s a young center coming through and he's doing well. He’s a very good rim protector. Just a different dynamic, he might have been a pick-and-pop guy, and he just continuously put him in there in his actions, it's hard," he said.

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    Kouame really demanded special attention from the Tall Blacks gameplan that getting into foul trouble eased some of the problems for the visitors.

    "[We're] just always looking for advantage in pick-and-pop and sometimes a guy had lapses, Rob had the pop. There’s different things you can do, but I’m sure they exploited most of it," he said. "But you still gotta make shots. We put Rob and he'll guard him, but that’s basketball."

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      Cameron said he was just delighted to get his boys back in action, all the more for it to happen in the Philippines.

      "I think there's no better place than to play here in this coliseum with all its tradition and history, and also against the Gilas team," said the mentor, fully aware of the rich basketball tradition that the country and its people have.

      "We watch a lot of these players that play overseas and also in the pro leagues here and they've come on from the college systems in the Philippines and [basketball] is massive and it's good to see it. It stands high in the Filipino community and it's great."

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      Coach Pero Cameron said he was pleased the Tall Blacks were able to play Gilas in their return to action.
      PHOTO: fiba.basketball
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