As Gilas Pilipinas heads to the homestretch of its preparation for the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Manila, Philippines, wing man Gabe Norwood says the focus of the team’s remaining days of practice is mental focus.
Norwood said as far as confidence is concerned, Gilas is already at a high level given the tune-up matches that the squad has had. It is now a matter of showing it in the actual competition.
“I think so. Everybody’s confidence is where it needs to be right now. Right now our focus is executing the game plan which is what the coaches are still putting together. I’m sure we will be ready and prepared,” Norwood said on Saturday.
The 6-foot-5 Gilas veteran said the squad’s Saturday practice focused on how France plays for them to be able to anticipate what their opponents will do.
“It was just a little bit going over sets, we don’t really have a detailed game plan yet, just some tendencies of players, just going over some formations they get into just to prepare ourselves mentally before we hit it hard,” Norwood shared, adding last Saturday’s practice was more of a mental one for them.
“We had more of a relaxed day. More of a mentally draining day so it is good for us,” he said.
“You can’t have any mental drop-off at this level. The competition is too good. The talent is there, it is just a matter of executing and mentally preparing.”
On a personal level, Norwood said he is excited to go up against top-level athletes.
“I enjoy playing against international players in the world,” he said.
“I am just excited. I think I just share the feelings of the whole country. We are just excited to get it started, especially playing at home, it is a huge advantage for us. We’ll just get it started, we are prepared, we put the work in, now we will just try executing it in the big (stage).”
