It was indeed a plus that we decided to come here as early as the 15th to allow the boys to acclimatize from the dry weather to the local cuisine up to local customs, if need be. If took us close to 15 hours to get here, starting with a Manila to Doha flight then onward to Yemen. Yemen, which is adjacent to Saudi Arabia, Oman and Somalia.
The Nokia RP U-18 team noted that because of Yemen’s elevation, it is difficult to breathe because of the thin air. But the earlier the players adjust to these conditions, the better it will be for them during actual play.
I’m just worried for the others who cannot join us much earlier. Gelo Alolino came in on Sunday, while Von Pessumal, Kiefer Ravena and Kevin Ferrer are expected to come in the day before the tournament starts.
These players will complete our 12-man roster and we are excited to have them to be able to practice some more before we go up against Saudi Arabia today (3 p.m., Yemen time, 8 p.m. Philippine time). For those who want to check out our games at real time, they can log on to http://sanaa2010.fibaasia.net.
As I said earlier, we were not able to scout Saudi Arabia and are quite unfamiliar with their playing style. Scouting is usually very essential in basketball, particularly in international play.
But although there is a saying that details matter much, we do not want to “overanalyze” our opponents. The idea is just to check their tendencies, how they usually react to certain situations and the players they go to. Those are the most essential. Although these might vary from game to game, you will find that some things will be the same.
So what’s generally important is to form the team that is prepared to tackle different situations, regardless of the team it is facing. The aim is to force our kind of game against the opponent to be able to get the advantage.
And that only means that we will be playing our very best for God and the Philippines. Please pray for us.
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