Alapag upbeat on Gilas’ Asiad chances

MANILA, Philippines - Even without Andray Blatche, Jimmy Alapag likes Gilas Pilipinas’ chances in the 2014 Asian Games set to fire off next week in Incheon, Korea.

After a superb performance in the FIBA World Cup, Alapag is banking on that experience to boost Gilas’ bid to finally end a 52-year gold medal drought in the Asian Games basketball tournament.

“I think we have a good chance. It’s going to be an exciting tournament. We showed in the World Cup that we have a good chance but again, we need to go back to practice,” said Alapag.

With a spate of injuries hounding the team, Alapag decided to delay his retirement from international play to wear the national colors for one last time.

Gilas’ chance to finally end the long drought could have been brighter had Blatche been allowed to play, but a three-year residency rule by Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) barred the naturalized player from suiting up for the Nationals again.

But with Marcus Douthit back in the fold, Alapag is confident they can still take a crack at the gold medal but stressed the need for the Nationals to focus on the task at hand.

“I have confidence in our guys. But given the short time in between finishing [the World Cup] in Spain and beginning to get ready for Incheon, we should all be locked in and focused on the task ahead,” Alapag said.

It’s going to be tougher than the FIBA Asia with all the teams now knew what Gilas can do.

“You look at China, Korea and Iran and the other teams that are going to be there and it’s going to be tough. It won’t be an easy road to the medal round,” Alapag said.