As he names his Gilas Pilipinas Final 12 for the 2023 Fiba Basketball World Cup, Spin.ph Editor-in-Chief Dodo Catactuan is pleasantly surprised after months of uncertainty
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00:00 Seeing this team, I think this is a big upgrade definitely from 2019.
00:04 And this is better than the 2014 team that made history in Cebu, Spain.
00:09 When I see the 16, the final 16 that remained, and now that I'm starting to look at the pieces
00:25 and see what we have that we can go with for the World Cup, I think I like what I see.
00:33 Surprisingly, I like what I see.
00:35 Before you very eyes, one, we've become finally big enough to afford to get a naturalized player
00:52 in the center because we have now. We now have someone like Akai Soto, we now have someone like
00:59 Jun Mar and of course, AJ Edu. We're big enough to afford not to get an Andre Glatzna,
01:05 maging centro sa Gilas.
01:22 Ngayon, we have these two, three players who are big enough na hindi tayo
01:28 maagrabyado sa backcourt in terms of size and shooting. And we have Scottie there,
01:33 we have Dwight Ramos there. Gusto ko yung evolution noong backcourt din natin na we
01:40 won't have to deal with a lot of mismatches like we did in the past kahit noong 2019.
01:45 So pagdating sa wings, ang pinaka natutuwa ako sa pagka-addition ni Jamie Maloncio and I'm glad
01:53 with how Jamie has developed this game over the years. So now, if you look at the overall picture,
02:02 andiyan na yung Jordan Clarkson ko, andiyan na yung Kai Soto, andiyan na yung Jun Mar,
02:07 and of course, Joppet and AJ.
02:10 Pagdating sa backcourt, I think locked na yan si Dwight Ramos, locked na yan si Scottie,
02:16 and of course, Jamie Maloncio. So that leaves us with four slots na pagkawayan noong walong tao.
02:23 Give me some time to explain my choices now. One is I chose RR Pagoy for the simple reason na
02:34 we need shooting and he's a two-way player. I think I prefer him more
02:39 for a Chris Newsome or a thirdie or a keeper. Pagdating sa 10th player ko, I prefer Ray Fartz
02:48 for the simple reason din na I think we need a lot of firepower if we are to face all these
02:55 teams that are bigger and stronger than us. Dahil nga wala tayong Jordan heading na that we can rely
03:02 on to spread the floor and complement JC pagdating sa labas. I think our best, our best, best option
03:12 is Ray Fartz. Ngayon, for the last two slots na I'll fill, ang ano na lang naman, wings na lang
03:20 yan. So if you put there someone like a thirdie or a thirdie or a bender, medyo you'll get defense,
03:26 pero offense medyo one thing. Same thing with Chris Newsome. Maganda yung defense niya, pero
03:32 yung ano niya, napaka-tentative nung offense niya. So you won't get both. But I feel instead of
03:39 getting those two, I believe na Gilas would benefit to get someone like Ren Zabango. Kasi
03:45 he's someone who can change the course of a game upon entering and that's what you want from a
03:51 bench player. Yung 9th, 10th, 11th guy. Yung alam mo yung coach ka, walang nangyayayagin maganda sa
03:58 loob and you want to shake things up, you can use someone like a like a like a Nabango. And I'll
04:05 prefer that than get a prototype defensive-minded someone in the backcourt like Chris Newsome or a
04:12 thirdie or a bender. Ngayon, I'm leaving out Kiefer for the simple fact na on the premise na I think
04:20 Scottie would be healthy by the time the World Cup comes along. Ang ano ko lang naman kaya Kiefer is
04:27 if the World Cup comes and we need a backup point guard, then maybe we can pull Kiefer in. Pero kung
04:33 nandyan si Scottie or nandyan si Dwight Ramos to run the show pag magdating sa backcourt, I don't
04:40 think we'll need Kiefer there. So instead of Kiefer, I'll just get a Bando or someone na may
04:47 shooting sa labas and at the same time influence the game and change the game in one, two, three,
04:52 four minutes kung ano man minutes na bigay sa kanya. Seeing this team, I think this is a big upgrade
04:58 definitely from 2019 and this is better than the 2014 team that made history in Sevilla, Spain.
05:05 Oo ko ano mangyayayagi, we'll see. For the first time in what, months? Napaka tensionado natin
05:14 diba seeing all these injuries tapos mayroong pang drama around Kai Soto, drama around Jordan
05:22 Carlson, drama about yung formation ng team. Finally I'm feeling better and I think I like
05:29 the team that I see now. Hopefully I'll be proven right.
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