June Mar Fajardo. AP FILE PHOTO
June Mar Fajardo missed out on Gilas Pilipinas’ recent campaign in the 2015 Fiba Asia Championship but that doesn’t mean he has a lot of catching up to do.
The reigning two-time MVP admits that he is still familiar with the current program as he reunites with most of his Gilas Pilipinas 2.0 teammatest as part of the latest—and arguably most talented—national team pool.
“It’s different now but I’m still teammates with my teammates from Gilas 2.0 so the familiarity between the players is there,” said Fajardo after Gilas yet wrapped up its first training late Monday night at Meralco Gym in Pasig.
Fajardo understands the kind of challenge that lies ahead of the Philippine team, which will be shooting for a ticket to the 2016 Rio Olympics in a qualifier slated July of next year.
Gilas will be up against some of Europe’s powerhouse teams not to mention perennial contenders in other continents like Canada and Mexico.
“Like what coach told us, we just have to give everything we have in practice so that when we get to the games, we won’t think we’re up against strong teams and instead, we’ll think about how strong we are because of how we prepared,” the San Miguel Beer center said.