Before the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles left for Taiwan, they stressed that for some of them, this is their Gilas call-up.
And they made sure to leave a mark during their debut game, overwhelming the B-Squad of Chinese-Taipei, 87-64, Sunday evening.
“It’s great to have those first game jitters out especially cause we’re in a new environment with a different crowd,” shared Isaac Go, who had 10 points and seven rebounds in 15 minutes of gametime.
“I think most of the guys already new coming in to the game about the atmosphere and prepared mentally. The others caught up in the game and did a good job of overcoming it.”
But playing the role of Gilas Pilipinas in the pocket tournament means that they have to face the National Team’s arch-rivals as well. On Monday, the young Chooks-to-Go-powered Ateneo Pilipinas will face South Korea’s Men’s National Basketball Team.
Korea, who also made it to the next round of the 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, has beefed up its frontcourt with a player familiar with Filipinos – Ricardo Ratliffe.
The 6-foot-8 naturalized Korean, who was the Most Valuable Player of the 2014 Jones Cup, had 22 points and 15 rebounds in their 92-86 win over Indonesia.
Having watched Ratliffe when he played for the Star Hotshots back in 2016, the 21-year-old Go could not hide his excitement over sharing the same court.
“I’ve seen him play a bit in the PBA,” shared the 6-foot-8 big man.
“I’m excited. I know he’s a high-level ball player and that it’s gonna be a challenge to guard him.
“He’s got a lot of experience over me as well. I’m just gonna try to learn as much as I can while I play him,” the BS Management, major in Applied Chemistry student-athlete added.
Even with the chance to play against Ratliffe and the opportunity to take on one of Gilas’ top rivals, Go and the rest of Ateneo Pilipinas are not getting ahead of themselves. They know that they need to bring their A-game when they take on the 33rd-ranked team in the world.
“I think personally, I’m just trying to focus on what I can do tomorrow.
“Psyching one’s self before a game can work in both directions. It can help you play better and it can make you play worse. I think also our opponents are thinking the same. They’re focusing on us and on the game tomorrow,” said the Chooks-to-Go/UAAP-NCAA Press Corps Pivotal Player of the Year .
“I think there isn’t really any extra preparations for tomorrow. The coaches are now working to prepare a game plan for tomorrow. Players who played a while ago are just trying to get the hydration and recovery in to help us for the game tomorrow.”
