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'Tough' Gilas U16 squad ready for SEABA Championships

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Rom Anzures, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The Gilas Pilipinas Under-16 team. Handout/Smart Sports." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/07/12/gilas-youth-practice-josh-reyes-8996.jpg"/><figcaption>The Gilas Pilipinas Under-16 team. Handout/Smart Sports.</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA – Even with a short turnaround, the Gilas Pilipinas Men&#x27;s Under-16 team will be ready to play in the upcoming 2023 SEABA U16 Championships in Indonesia.Team head Coach Josh Reyes revealed that they were only made aware of the tournament a month before the games started. Thus, they needed to fast-track the team&#x27;s preparations for the SEABA, which serves as a qualifying tournament for the 2023 FIBA U16 Asia Championships in Doha, Qatar on September“When the FIBA calendar started, this wasn&#x27;t on it, and I think it’s unprecedented that they only gave everybody a month&#x27;s notice,” Reyes said. “When the memo came out that it’s SEABA Qualifiers, not just a tournament, the deadline of submission was already the next weekend. So luckily, we started a bit early in terms of calling in players for tryouts,” he explained, saying that the preparations they were making were actually for the FIBA U16 Championships, and not for the SEABA which was not originally part of the calendar.“For sure, blessing na nag-start kami very early, the only thing is hindi tugma yung timeline. We weren’t near in terms of having to play actual games, but when the announcement came, then we started to look for tuneup games and expedite the learning curves,” Reyes added.“I’m pretty confident that the guys will be ready.”The players who will be suiting up for the squad are Kieffer Alas, CJ Amos, Irus Chua, Elijah Williams, Paul Diao, Edryn Morales, Bon Daja, Joaquin Ludovice, Gian Gomez, Bryan Hachuela, Kurt Velasquez, and Ziv Espinas. They will also be featuring two reserves in Champ Arejola and Daniel Sta. Maria, as per a report by Quinito Henson on the Philippine Star.In the tournament that will also feature Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, only the top two teams will qualify for September’s Asian Championships. And despite having limited information on the actual players that their opponents’ will be fielding, Reyes has the full trust of this squad.&quot;We don’t know if the teams like Indonesia or Thailand have things up their sleeves, but we’re practicing as if they have. We’re practicing to be ready for whatever, he said.“This team is tough, they can shoot really well, and they want to learn the right game. This group, we’ll see them play tough defense, and work together to rise above our lack of height,” he added.

Even with the short turnaround, Gilas Pilipinas U16 will be ready to hoop in the upcoming 2023 SEABA U16 Championships in Indonesia.

'Tough' Gilas U16 squad ready for SEABA Championships

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'Tough' Gilas U16 squad ready for SEABA Championships

Rom Anzures,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 12, 2023 06:48 PM PHT

Read More:

Basketball

FIBA

Gilas Pilipinas

Gilas Pilipinas U16 Youth

Josh Reyes

SEABA Championships

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