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Gilas U19 cagers hopeful

While touted as the tallest Philippine Youth squad ever assembled, people behind the Gilas Pilipinas U19 team was quick to temper expectations about its coming campaign in the FIBA U19 World Cup in Heraklion, Greece.

Team manager Andrew Teh did stress height will be among the team’s major edge heading to the June 29 to July 7 meet as it parades a slew of tall players led by 7-foot-2 Kai Sotto, a pair of 6-foot-10 in AJ Edu and Shaun Geoffrey Chiu, and 6-foot-8 Carl Tamayo.

AJ Edu (L) and Andrew Teh (R)

But as Teh reasoned out, sometimes basketball is not all about height.

“Dito sa Pilipinas, height yung kulang sa atin lagi. But this time, we really have some height. But again, it’s not only height that can win you games. It’s the team play,” said Teh in the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum on Tuesday at the Amelie Hotel-Manila.

“So it’s not just about the height, although with height you have a good advantage (against the other). We just have to use that as a tool for us to become a better team.

Chemistry, according to Edu, is also one of the factors the young Philippine team is banking on, the main core of this group having played together as a unit during last year’s FIBA U18 Asian Championship in Nonthaburi, Thailand.

The Filipinos, then handled by Josh Reyes, placed fourth in the Asian meet to qualify to the World Cup. Reyes has since been replaced by Sandy Arespacochaga.

Tags: FIBA , FIBA U18 , Geoffrey Chiu , Gilas Pilipinas , Josh Reyes , Kai Sotto , Philippine Sportswriters Association , PSA , Sandy Arespacochaga , Shaun Geoffrey Chiu