Carlo Pamintuan 5y

Gilas Youth hope to build on World Cup experience

Gilas Pilipinas Youth arrived in the Philippines Tuesday afternoon carrying with them a wealth of experience along with lessons they picked up by taking on some of the best young basketball players in the FIBA Under-19 World Cup in Greece.

"It's a great learning experience for everyone in the team because we got to see just how different international basketball is from what we play here in the Philippines," said Gilas Pilipinas Youth head coach Sandy Arespacochaga. "Our players learned that it can't just be one-on-one at this level. We went up against opponents who were taller or bulkier but as quick as our players so that just means individual basketball won't be enough. There were a lot of talented players there who will make it to the NBA someday and then they also played better as a team so that's what we were up against in Greece."

The Philippines ended a 40-year absence from the tournament and finished as the top Asian team after defeating China in the classification stage. They had a golden opportunity to finish 13th but lost grip of their final game against New Zealand.

"Unfortunately, things did not go our way early in the competitions," rued Arespacochaga. "We did not have that much time to prepare and then we lost AJ Edu in the first two minutes of our opening game. AJ does so much for us on both ends of the floor. He could have given us an extra 15 points per game and his absence put so much pressure on Kai (Sotto)."

The starting center of Gilas topped the competitions in blocked shots even though he was two years younger than the majority of the field at only 17 years of age.

"Since I started playing basketball, blocking has been my priority," said Sotto who was mobbed by fans wanting to get photos taken with him. "But it's not just me. We all work hard on our team defense. If AJ wasn't injured, it could have been him leading in blocks instead of me."

Sotto said that he was proud both with how he performed individually and how they did as a team.

"Our coaches really worked hard to prepare us and my teammates and I did our best to execute," added Sotto who was joined by his parents in Greece.

Arespacochaga extended his gratitude to coach Josh Reyes and his staff who enabled the Philippines to qualify for the World Cup with their top four finish in the 2018 FIBA U-18 Asian Championship.

"This experience is great for the players but we also told them to share their knowledge with their teammates in their respective schools," said Arespacochaga. "We want them to tell their teammates the learnings they picked up to also help them improve. We see the Gilas Pilipinas Youth program as a feeder for the national team. We're hoping that our players use this experience in the future. Maybe some of them could crack the Gilas team for 2023."

According to Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Executive Director Sonny Barrios, the challenge now is how to build on the program and keep qualifying for the FIBA Under-19 World Cup.

"We ended our 40-year absence but we don't want this to be a one-and-done thing," he said. "We'll continue our search for the best young basketball players in the entire country and even abroad."

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