Gilas sends Arespacochaga in advance to know thy FIBA World Cup enemy better

The Gilas Pilipinas men’s basketball team is in for a tough challenge in Group D of the FIBA World Cup 2019. Italy and Serbia are two of the best teams in the world while Angola has been perennial African champions. Despite the odds not in their favor, games are still won and lost on the court. Learning opponent’s tendencies is part of the winning formula.

That’s why Gilas assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga left early for Foshan, China in order to scout Serbia and Italy in a pocket-tournament that they will be playing in. The Ateneo Blue Eagles deputy is making the trip a week before the rest of the team arrives.

This role is nothing new for Arespacochaga as he and Ford Arao were the Philippines’ advance party in Kazakhstan to assess the host team. His partner will arrive two days after he lands in China. What’s more important is that someone from the think tank will be able to witness the Italy-Serbia game on August 23.

Though Arespachochaga will have the first dibs on seeing both teams in person, Coach Yeng Guiao and the rest of the coaching staff already have scouting reports and game videos for both teams. This includes their game in Greece wherein the Serbians handily defeated the Danilo Gallinari-less Azzuri.

The current Gilas Pilipinas Youth head tactician will feed whatever scouting information and game videos he can get from the game. These will help them find an advantage that they can exploit when they face Italy on August 31 and Serbia on September 2. Team Philippines will close the group stage opposite the Angolans in September 4.

Gilas Pilipinas won one game (versus Senegal) in the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain. They lost to Croatia by just three points, to Argentina by four, and to Puerto Rico by also four. The national team had its worst defeat against Greece, 82-70.