WC protagonists all ready to rumble

MANILA, Philippines — And the battlelines are drawn.

Following the arrival of heavy favorite Italy, the Group A protagonists are all set for mano-a-mano with host Gilas Pilipinas that is looking to stand its ground against tall odds behind an expected throng of Filipino supporters.

Italy, the world No. 10, arrived on Tuesday night, in time for the FIBA Basketball World Cup firing off tomorrow at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.

Angola was the first team to land in the “Pearl of the Orient” last weekend followed by the Dominican Republic on Monday as home team Gilas enjoys comfort at home since earlier this month after staging overseas camps in Europe and China.

Four more teams in Lithuania, Jordan, China and South Sudan were to arrive in the country last night to complete the 16-squad cast from the total of 32 World Cup participants assigned to play in the Philippines.

Group B’s Serbia and Puerto Rico, Group C’s USA, Greece and New Zealand as well as Group D’s Egypt, Mexico and Montenegro are already in the country.

But all eyes are on Group A teams, which will have one NBA player each to spearhead their respective squads.

Former NBA Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson of the Utah Jazz banners the home team, his Jazz teammate Simone Fontecchio leads Italy while NBA centers Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Bruno Fernando (Atlanta Hawks) headline the Dominican Republic and Angola, respectively.

Still, Italy carries the largest target on its back after sweeping all its seven friendly matches capped by an 88-81 win over New Zealand before trooping to the Philippines.

Italy previously beat Turkey, 90-89, China, 79-61, Serbia, 89-88, Greece, 74-70, Puerto Rico, 98-65 and Brazil, 93-87, ahead of battles against Group A foes in world No. 23 Dominican Republic, No. 41 Angola and No. 40 Philippines.

Former NBA players Luigi Datome and Nicolo Melli are also in for Italy with the guidance of mentor Gianmarco Pozzecco, who’s an avid Manny Pacquiao fan and looked for his idol right away upon their arrival.

But his wards are in for a far more important battle for now when Group A teams slug it out for survival starting tomorrow.

With little to no breather, the hostilities erupt tomorrow featuring Italy versus Angola at 4 p.m. followed by the main event between the Filipinos and the Dominicans at 8 p.m. before an expected crowd of up to 50,000 fans.