From Seville to Foshan.
For the second straight FIBA World Cup, Gilas Pilipinas rubs elbows and shares the court with titans of the game, starting with their showdown with Danilo Galinari, Marco Belinelli and the other topnotch Italian players on opening day of the world joust 2019 in China.
The Philippines and Italy face off in the World Cup for the first time in 41 years, with no less than the country's chief executive set to lead the cheerers for the Nationals in their 7:30 p.m. tiff at the Foshan International Sports and Cultural Arena.
Coach Yeng Guiao and his troops look for an upset to give them a chance to make the second round in the 32-nation meet.
Guiao is realistic it's almost impossible for them to beat Serbia so they're hoping to pull a reversal over Italy and also win over Angola to avoid early plunge into the classification round.
Sponsored content: In the run-up to the Foshan meet, the Nationals focused all their energy and attention on the Italian squad featuring NBA players in 6-10 Galinari, 6-5 Belinelli and 6-8 Gigi Datome.
But knowing the caliber of the competition, the Nationals are not putting much pressure on themselves. They're relishing their World Cup moment, hoping a bit loose attitude could serve them in good stead.
"I'm looking forward to just competing against the best in the world. It's almost unbelievable to say that. It's also something we can be proud of as Filipinos and for the PBA as a league because the league is able to produce players of caliber who can compete at the world level," said Guiao.
Technically, Guiao believes they would have a chance to win if they could make their outside shots.
With a decent shooting, the Nationals won four friendlies, including twice against Ivory Coast in Spain and one against the Adelaide 36ers at home.
Sponsored content: Of course, the Italians have the edge in size and they have their shooters led no less by Belinelli, the NBA three-point shootout champ in 2014.
But the Italians didn't fare well in friendlies, dropping matches against Russia, Greece, Serbia, Turkey, New Zealand and France.
One thing for sure about Team Phl, they are highly motivated.
"(We have) same motivation as last time: We want to go out and prove to the world that we belong," Gilas skipper Gabe Norwood said.
"We're the underdogs but it's like it's okay. It's great to shock people," said naturalized player Andray Blatche. "Our main focus is to get two wins. Last time we got one, this time get two wins and advance." (SB)
