Blatche confident

By Adrian Stewart Co

With the Philippine men’s national basketball team, Gilas Pilipinas, set to play their final 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifier games on February 21 and 24, center Andray Blatche expressed confidence for their upcoming games against Qatar and Kazakhstan.

“I’m very confident,” he said.

The former NBA player also credited the system run by Gilas head coach Yeng Guiao.

“The thing about the system that I like the most is playing off instinct; it puts you in positions where you have to make a choice,” Blatche said. “It’s not, like, the plays are super complicated where I’ll be on the court and I’ll be, like, ‘What do I do next?’ – it’s not like that; the plays are very simple and playing off instinct, and playing off chemistry with your teammates.”

Gilas are currently fourth place in Group F, which means qualification is incumbent on how they compare to the fourth place team in Group E, Lebanon. The Philippines is currently trialing with a 5-5 record, while their Lebanese counterparts hold a 6-4 record. Their upcoming games against Qatar and Kazakhstan are must-wins to clinch qualification./ASC, WDJ