By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
If this materializes, the Gilas Pilipinas men’s national basketball team should be prepared at all costs.
Gilas foes Dominican Republic just released its 29-man pool for the upcoming FIBA World Cup and it included two of the NBA’s elite big men, Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves and veteran Al Horford of the Boston Celtics, confirmed last July 27, 2023.
The national team will be going up against Dominican Republic in the first week of their FIBA World Cup campaign as they are slotted together in Group A of the tournament together with Angola and Italy.
If the NBA big men 1-2 punch will be named to Dominican Republic’s final pool heading to Manila, Gilas must already devise the strategies in need to neutralize the prowess of both Towns and Horford in the paint.
Both players are stretch centers that can space the floor with their efficient three-point shooting and can also post up and do damage in the shaded lane.
To contain both NBA stars, the likes of June Mar Fajardo and Japeth Aguilar must be in their A-game to keep up with their pace.
Towns is fresh off a playoff appearance with the Timberwolves before getting eliminated by Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
It was an up-and-down series for Towns but he consistently balled out in two games for the Timberwolves that made the first-round matchup against the Nuggets exciting.
On the other hand, Horford helped Boston reach the Eastern Conference finals but also failed to advance after Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat put an end to their run.
From his lock-up defense against Joel Embiid to anchoring the Celtics’ defense against the Heat, Horford showed that he is still one of the best defensive big men in the modern era.
Meanwhile, for Gilas, the team already secured the commitment of former NBA Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson as their naturalized player for the global games.
However, Clarkson is yet to arrive in the Philippines to go train with the national team. Gilas already kicked off its preparation a month ago after a short training camp at Inspire and another one in Europe.
Can Gilas stun the world and go deep into the FIBA World Cup?
