In a rare opportunity, Gilas Pilipinas men's and women's teams trained together as they continue to prepare for the upcoming Asian Games.
Let's find out more from Pauline Verzosa.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 For the first time in recent years, the GILAS Pilipinas men's and women's teams joined forces
00:05 in practice as they gear up for another tour of duty in the upcoming Asian Games.
00:09 The national basketball teams held a joint training session at the PhilSports Arena in
00:13 Pasig City on Thursday night.
00:16 A brainchild of GILAS men's interim head coach Tim Cohn.
00:19 I'm a big fan of theirs and I think we need to recognize that more as a nation and understand
00:25 these girls are out there doing what we do every day.
00:28 I know we're all locked into the men's program but I think we should be really proud of the
00:31 women's program as well.
00:33 Doing things like this and being around the fans and knowing the women's team, we start
00:38 realizing it's all bigger than us.
00:41 Both teams shared the court as they engaged in warm-up and shooting drills.
00:44 They were later on divided into their own teams where they practiced their offensive
00:48 schemes and even held a shootout contest with fans.
00:52 A player suited up for the men's squad, bannered by veterans Junmar Fajardo, Japita Gilar,
00:57 as well as Terrence Romeo, Calvin Abueva and Justin Brownlee.
01:00 It's always good to talk to the players, get some insight on how they feel about how they
01:06 approach the game and play the game.
01:07 So it's just always good to just to conversate with them and have some laughs and motivate
01:13 them and they motivate us as well.
01:15 GILAS women head coach Pat Aquino and his wards relished the opportunity to share the
01:19 court with their counterparts, especially as they rally for more recognition after just
01:24 climbing five spots in the world rankings at number 37.
01:27 It's a great opportunity to get to know the men's team.
01:31 I hope we can have more time together.
01:37 It's an awesome feeling to be side by side with the men's team for the first time.
01:42 Just happy that again, we can't do this, only the men's team always have this kind of thing
01:49 and the women's now has that opportunity to show themselves.
01:53 It's like one big family and hoping that this is one big step going to the Asian Games.
02:01 We will fight together for our country.
02:04 GILAS also opened its doors to fans for a rare opportunity to see their favorite players
02:08 up close.
02:09 I didn't expect that I would be chosen for the shootout.
02:13 Women's basketball is really something that they need support for.
02:16 It's rare that GILAS has opened for public.
02:19 We didn't waste the chances to see our national team, GILAS.
02:27 The 19th Asian Games will begin on September 23 in Hangzhou, China.
02:31 Pauline Verzosa, CNN Philippines.