Filipinos’ chances in Foshan rest on the outside shot

Yeng Guiao is making it no secret that his Gilas Pilipinas crew will rely on one weapon come the Fiba World Cup that gets off the ground Saturday in China.

“When we’re shooting well (from the outside), we win games. When we’re shooting well, it becomes a little bit easier to win games,” said Guiao during Tuesday’s PSA Forum at Amelie Hotel.

Guiao pointed to the results the Nationals had in a series of tune-up games in Spain and at Meralco gym last week, and for them to progress past the first round in Foshan where they are bracketed with Italy, Serbia and Angola in Group D, they need to connect from afar.

And that task will rest largely on the shoulders of Paul Lee, RR Pogoy and PBA rookie Robert Bolick, who are left as the team’s main outside guns after injuries to Matthew Wright and Marcio Lassiter forced Guiao to leave the gunslingers out of the roster.

“Our outside shooting will be crucial, but I feel these guys can step up when the time comes,” said Guiao.

Andray Blatche, June Mar Fajardo, Troy Rosario, Japeth Aguilar, team captain Gabe Norwood, Mark Barroca, Raymund Almazan, Kiefer Ravena, and CJ Perez are the other members of the team.

“When we played (the Adelaide 36ers from Australia), we shot well from the outside and won,” Guiao said, referring to one of their recent tune-ups against the Aussie club last week.

“It’s the same way in Spain. The only bad game we played was the game against Congo when we shot really bad from the outside,” he said of their games in Spain last month where the Filipinos had a 10-day camp. “But the three games that we won in Spain, we were really shooting well.”

Guiao, meanwhile, said that Bolick and Perez did not earn their slots to the team mainly because some of the other aspirants were injured.

“Everybody is deserving (of their spots), including the rookies. The rookies, as you know, played well. But in the games you have not seen, they also played well,” said Guiao.

“In Spain, they already made a good account of themselves. Among the coaching staff, we were already thinking that these two guys have the chance to make the team,” Guiao said.