Gilas figures in 4-nation Estonia meet

MANILA, Philippines - Estonia, the Netherlands and Iceland play Gilas Pilipinas in a pocket three-day tournament in the Estonian capital city of Tallinn on Aug. 20-22 in preparation for their own stints in the FIBA EuroBasket jointly hosted by Croatia, France, Germany and Latvia on Sept. 5-20.

The Estonians and the Dutch are gearing up for their EuroBasket comeback after long years of absence while the Icelanders are getting ready for their FIBA Europe debut.

The three squads made the 24-team draw with Spain, Ukraine, France, Slovenia, Croatia, Lithuania, Serbia, Finland, Greece, Turkey, Latvia, Israel, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Georgia, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Macedonia, Italy and Russia, fighting it out for two slots in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Estonia, the Netherlands and Iceland are low-tier Euro teams which could be the ideal matchups for Team Phl that is just to get their first taste of real action.

In Tallinn, Andray Blatche and his teammates play the first three of 14 matches lined up for Gilas Pilipinas in their FIBA Asia buildup.

Estonia is playing its first EuroBasket in 14 years while the Netherlands qualified for its first in 26 long years.

Iceland, meanwhile, has gained breakthrough, graduating to the EuroBasket from the FIBA Euro Championship for Small Countries.

With one Olympic stint before being occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, Estonia has a current lineup featuring six players standing 6-foot-8 and above in Siim Sander Vene, Kristjan Kitsing, Joosep Toome, Janar Talts, Rain Raadik and Reinar Hallik.

Coach Tab Baldwin hopes to get Gilas in game shape in Estonia before vying to regain the crown in the Jones Cup in Taipei from Aug. 29-Sept. 6.