For the first time, Beau Belga got to play with the San Miguel Beermen Five in Gilas Pilipinas. And despite having been in the game for the last 10 years, he was the first to admit that it was intimidating.
At one point of Gilas’ tune-up game against Jordan on Monday evening at the Meralco Gym, Belga was joined by Arwind Santos, Alex Cabagnot, Marcio Lassiter, and Christian Standhardinger. All Belga could say about it was, “ang sarap!”
“Gusto ko nga lumipat sa San Miguel eh, ang sarap pala,” quipped Belga, who was part of both Gilas teams during the fourth window.
“Hindi ano, yun nga, masarap kasama yung mga taong familiar na sa isa’t isa. Kasabay ko yung apat, parang ang dali ng buhay sa akin,” he added.
“Parang ikaw pa nga maga-adjust sa kanila.”
The burly 6-foot-5 forward finished the game with seven points. However, Gilas fell to the visiting Jordanians, 92-98.
Still, Belga saw plenty of positives in the way the team handled themselves.
“Ako ang nakita ko na positive, kahit hindi kami ganun ka-prepared dito sa game, you will see na pursigido mag-improve.
“We just need to jell and especially, ‘pag tinignan mo yung puro superstar naman, konting oras lang,” he opined.
The team is not panicking yet, as they have three more tune-up games before hosting Kazakhstan on November 30. Moreover, Belga knows that Yeng Guiao’s system is very easy to comprehend for the Gilas neophytes.
“Yun naman gusto ni coach eh [familiriaty and chemistry]. Even if maraming bago, hindi magbabago sistema niya. So the chemistry will stay.
“Kaya siguro kami sinama din ni coach Yeng dito, to let the new guys know kung ano yung sistema na tinatakbo. As veterans sa sistema ni coach Yeng, taga-turo kami ngayon sa mga bago,” he shared.
