There’s an exciting buzz in tracking the Philippines’ progress in 3×3 basketball with the men’s team qualifying for the 20-nation FIBA U23 World Cup in Wuhan on Sept. 15-19, ending an eight-year wait from when RJ Abarrientos, Ricci Rivero, Rhayyan Amsali and Jeepy Faundo posted a 2-2 record in 2018.
‘It came as a surprise,’ said SBP 3×3 project director Ryan Gregorio who took over the role six months ago. ‘We topped the U21 Nations League with three first place finishes, two second places and one fourth in six stops over Japan, New Zealand, Belarus, Singapore and Malaysia. That qualified us for the U23 World Cup. A U23 Nations League will be held in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 17-23. We’re looking at our players from the U21 and U23 Nations Leagues to decide who will participate in the U23 World Cup and U23 Asian Games on Sept. 20-25.’
The U21 players who saw action in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, were FEU’s Cabs Cabonillas and Jed Daa, UST’s Koji Buenaflor, Adamson’s Earl Medina and San Beda’s Jhuniel de la Rama. So far, La Salle’s Luis Pablo and Doy Dungo are confirmed for the U23 Nations League. Gregorio said he’ll reach out to four others this weekend before finalizing the roster. In contention are two from UAAP and two from NCAA.
Gregorio said the Gilas 3×3 women are ahead of the men in ranking points and made it back to the FIBA 3×3 Women World Cup in Warsaw last June. The women are No. 21 and the men, No. 40 in the federation ladder. Anton Altamirano coaches the women while Kirk Collier, Patrick Fran and JJ Espanola take care of the men. SBP executive director Erika Dy said the upswing in both the women and men programs is ‘proof that Filipinos are world-class not just in 5×5 but also in 3×3…with the support of our sponsors and the commitment of stakeholders, SBP will continue to put our athletes in a position to succeed.’