MANILA, Philippines - Handang makipagsabaÂyan ang mga higante ng Gilas Pilipinas na sina 6-foot-11 Greg Slaughter ng NLEX 6’10 naturalized player Marcus Douthit, 6’10 June Mar Fajardo ng Petron, 6’9 Japeth Aguilar ng Globalport, 6’7 Sonny Thoss ng Alaska, 6’6 Ranidel de Ocampo at 6’6 Kelly Williams ng Talk ‘N’ Text at 6’5 Marc Pingris ng San Mig Coffee sa 2013 FIBA-Asia Men’s Championships sa Agosto 1-11 sa SM MOA Arena sa Pasay City.
“The fact that the FIBA-Asia Championships will be held in Manila gives us more reason to take our job seriously,†ani Aguilar. “The room for mistakes is very little. This opportunity might not happen again so we really need to grab it.â€
Ang 2013 FIBA-Asia Men’s Championships ay ang qualifying meet para sa 2014 World Championships sa Spain.
Noong Lunes ay idinaos na ng Gilas Pilipinas ang kanilang unang team practice sa ilalim ni national coach Chot Reyes.
“Our first practice was great and the new guys looked to be picking up the offense very well. The most memorable thing for me was (PBA) Commissioner (Chito) Salud , (SBP) executive director (Sonny) Barrios, boss MVP (Manny V. Pangilinan), boss (Ricky) Vargas and boss (Al) Panlilio all coming to show their support for the team and giving us inspirational talks,†ani Slaughter.
Huling ginanap sa bansa ang FIBA-Asia (dating Asian Basketball ConfeÂderation) Championships noong 1973 kung saan nagkampeon ang mga Pinoy.
Unang idinaos ang torneo sa bansa noong 1960 na pinagharian ng mga Filipino cagers.
Ang iba pang nasa Gilas ay sina Gabe Norwood, Jeff Chan ng Rain Or Shine, Gary David ng Globalport at sina Jared Dillinger, Ryan Reyes at Larry Fonacier ng Talk ‘N’ Text.
Nasa backcourt sina L. A. Tenorio ng Alaska, Jimmy Alapag at Jayson Castro ng Talk ‘N’ Text.