Gilas Pilipinas Basketball

With four Gilas Pilipinas players for the Kazakhstan game on November 30 coming from Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, fans of the country’s most popular ball club will have something extra to look forward to.

Ginebra mainstays LA Tenorio, Scottie Thompson, Greg Slaughter, and Japeth Aguilar, who were all named to the final 12 for the Friday affair, are all excited to inflict the national squad with their trademark never-say-die spirit at the Mall of Asia Arena for the fifth window of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

“Sobrang proud kasi sabay-sabay kami na-lineup. Sana yung yung Never-Say-Die spirit madala namin sa Gilas. Siyempre, yung laro namin sa team para makatulong kami sa teammates namin at sa bansa namin,” Thompson shared.

Tenorio, whose Gilas legacy is already in place, is just grateful to be able to return to the line-up too while joining his Ginebra teammates.

“Nagkaroon kami ng opportunity to represent the country, kaming apat. We are very happy na naging part kaming apat, representing Barangay Ginebra,” Tenorio said.

“Definitely we will give our best, our 100 percent, kaming apat and the rest of the team to show everyone, mga kababayan natin na we are really here to qualify for the World Cup.”

In terms of chemistry, having familiar places in the roster also serves as an advantage for the four all-stars.

“Dagdag confidence kasi hindi mahirap mag-adjust. Yun nga apat kami so nagtutulungan kami para mag-adjust sa sistema ni coach (Yeng Guiao),” Thompson said.

The players also rave about the possibility of all four of them being on the court at the same time.

“Maganda yun kung mangyayari pero ang goal naman is everyone dito maging accountable. Pagbibigay lang ng boost, everyone who should play ay magbibigay lang ng boost, ng energy sa mga kababayan namin. But again, plus yun sa atin. Alam naman natin Ginebra, aabangan ng mga tao yan,” Tenorio shared.

“Sana. Kung magsabay-sabay kami sa court, dagdag boost din sa amin iyon. Siguro din yung crowd, diba? Baka i-cheer kami. Sana dagdag kumpiyansa sa amin. Nakakagana,” Thompson added.

If it indeed happens, will they look forward to hearing the classic “Hee-ne-brah” chants inside the venue?

“Pilipinas na lang. Pero okay lang, pwede pagsabayin,” Tenorio said in jest.

“Siyempre Pilipinas. Pilipinas tayo,” Thompson added.

At the end of the day, the foursome all acknowledge they have a bigger task at hand and they are just ready to give it their all together.

“(The chants) hasn’t crossed my mind. Well it’s great to have four players representing the barangay but we are representing something greater tonight and that’s our country. Tonight we are team pilipinas playing for all of our countrymen,” Slaughter concluded.

By Levi Verora, Jr.