JAKARTA — Coach Yeng Guiao admits that the chance of the Philippines against powerhouse China maybe slim. But he is confident that the our Philippine Team will not be that underdog compared before.
He said, “Kung dati, we are a 100 to 1 underdog against China, ngayon we are just 100 to 20, nadagdagan na ang odds natin”.
The Philippine team will face the 2018 Asian Games favorite basketball team China on Tuesday at 5PM Manila time. Jakarta is 1 hour behind Philippines.
Guaio added, ”We admit talaga naman favorite sila, but I feel the more important thing is now, we feel that we have more of a chance to win. Dati para talagang wala ka chance na manalo sa kanila.”
With the debut of Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jordan Clarkson today donning the Philippine uniform, Clarkson who expects to add power to Philippine Team and would certainly give the Chinese Team some problems specially in and out of the shaded areas.
Read: Clarkson’s debut in Asian Games Basketball with China tomorrow excites Filipino fans
Guiao explained, ”What’s good for us is he (Clarkson) can draw the defense and free up our shooters. His skills are very good, all of these combined translates to a quicker transition for him to make adjustments. So it’s going to be two against one, Clarkson vs the two NBA Chinese players, Zhou Qi and Ding Yanyuang.
Qi is a 7’1″ backup slotman of the Houston Rockets, while Ding is a 6’7″ forward of the Dallas Mavericks.
The Philippine Team’s Chief Scout Ryan Gregorio, “China is bringing their best team in the Asian Games. They are solid on all fronts specially their frontline.”Gregorio is a three-time PBA champion coach.
He added, “Zhou Qi is tall and quick. He has a range that can extend to the 3-point range. He has great anticipation skills on defense. Ding is quick and strong, and has long range, too.”
According to Guiao, the game plan is try to keep the game close, be aggressive in the entire 40 minutes and out-run their rivals.
“We will try to duplicate the defense that we did against Kazakhstan”, said Guiao. The Philippine Team clobbered the Kazakhs 96-59 last Wednesday.
“We may lack the height and length, but we can compensate with our quickness and intelligence,” seconded Gregorio.