RP Youth dribblers face tough bracket

MANILA, Philippines–THE PHILIPPINE Youth team faces an uphill battle in the Fiba Asia Under-18 Championship set next month in Sana’a, Yemen.
Coach Eric Altamirano’s squad landed in the same Group C bracket with powerhouse China, Syria and Saudi Arabia, which the RP youth dribblers have never played before.
“China will always be tough, while we don’t have any scouting reports on Syria and Saudi Arabia,” said Altamirano, whose team qualified for the continental meet after sweeping the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (Seaba) Championship in Myanmar in July.
China has won the biennial tournament an unprecedented eight times, while the Philippines ruled the meet six times, including the first five stagings.
The top three finishers in the Fiba Asia tournament, slated Sept. 22 to Oct. 1, will represent the continent in the Fiba World Under-19 Championship next year in Latvia.
Altamirano also raised concern over the availability of players since only eight have been attending the practices lately.
He said key players Kiefer Ravena, Von Pessumal and Kevin Ferrer are playing for their respective schools in the ongoing UAAP season.
“They might not play but we have a pool of 15 players ready to replace them just in case they’re not available,” said Altamirano.
He added that Fil-Am Ray Parks, son of seven-time PBA Best Import Bobby Parks, who played for the RP 3-on-3 team in the recent Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, will play for the team.
The Filipinos will try to surpass the seventh-place finish of the squad coached by Franz Pumaren in 2008 in Tehran. The last time the Philippines won the tournament was in 1982, when it hosted the event.
Defending champion Iran leads Group A, which also includes Sri Lanka, Chinese Taipei and Malaysia, while 2008 second placer Kazakhstan heads Group B with South Korea, Lebanon and Qatar.
Host Yemen is bracketed with Japan, Iraq and India in Group D.