MANILA, Philippines – The Dominican Republic is eyeing to take the Philippine crowd out of the equation as they battle Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA World Cup opener on Friday at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
Dominican Republic head coach Nestor Garcia said that concentration will be important for the Dominicanas as they kick off their FIBA World Cup campaign against the home team and in front thousands of passionate fans.
“It is a big, great team. Everybody says that we [will be playing] against a lot of fans, so we are waiting for tomorrow,” Garcia told reporters at a press briefing.
He added that the Filipino players step up their level of play especially when playing in front of a home crowd.
“We know that Filipinos, they have good shooters. And, when they play locally, they step up their level, but everything is about concentration,” Garcia said.
“For us, it is very important, do not bring the people to the game because I know that in this country, they love basketball and they support the team,” he added.
For his part, Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes said on Thursday that the team will be banking on the local crowd to give them the extra boost, as they will be facing tough teams in the tournament.
Meanwhile, in an interview with reporters Wednesday night, Dominican Republic’s Lester Quinones said they will try to keep their focus on the task at hand despite the crowd.
Quinones noted that Gilas is “a very well-coached team and that the coaches are very disciplined.”
“They like to play up-tempo, fast-paced. I feel like with myself and Karl-Anthony Towns bringing that NBA-level transition and playing that pace, we kinda speed things up a little bit,” Quinones told reporters.
“The other guys here, that have been playing for years, they have the slow… they kinda run the sets, run the plays and I feel like mixing that together, I feel like we are gonna have a chance to win,” he added.