Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas reveals OQT pool

The FIBA 3x3 pool

With the 2020 FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifiers less than a couple of months away in India, Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas recently unveiled its pool of prospects that would likely comprise most, if not all of the national team set to participate in the tournament.

FIBA 3x3 rules mandate that at least four of the six players that will be participating in the OQT and the Olympics should be in the top 10 of the country's rankings. As such, Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas announced the composition of its pool based from said rankings, all of which were involved in the Chooks 3x3 tourneys that took place in 2019.

Leading the cast of ten are the country's two best Pinoy players in Joshua Munzon and Alvin Pasaol.

The remaining members of the pool is Munzon's teammate in Pasig in Dylan Ababou, and Pasaol's teammates in Bataan in Karl Dehesa and Leonard Santillan, as well as the likes of Chris De Chavez, Gab Banal, Jaypee Belencion, Leo De Vera, and Ryan Monteclaro.

Preparation for the tournament has been continuous ever since the announcement that the Philippines made the qualifiers, with league commissioner Eric Altamirano and the Serbian duo of Stefan Stojacic and Darko Krsman overseeing the sessions, with fellow Chooks 3x3 participants Troy Rike and Franky Johnson pitching in.

League owner Ronald Mascariñas shares, "This is our last shot at the Olympics that is why we are going all out for this." He adds, "Our players have been training non-stop since November, giving just a few days of break during the holidays."

Set to take place on March 18-22, the OQT seeks to complete the Olympic field in 3x3, filling the remaining three slots available.

Philippines ascends in FIBA 3x3 World Rankings

BAVI head honcho Ronald Mascarinas, flanked by Chooks-to-Go Ambassadors Kai Sotto and Kobe Paras, and Butch Antonio of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.

Another milestone for 3x3 basketball in the Philippines was achieved in the aftermath of the recently-concluded Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 Patriot's Cup presented by Coca-Cola.

Based from an update on the FIBA 3x3 standings last Sunday, the Philippines moved up to 24th in the world rankings, which is the highest they have achieved.

By making it to the top 24 in the world, the country would at least earn a spot in the Qualifying Tournament for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

League owner Ronald Mascariñas shares, "This is a surprising development even for us. We started the year at 60 and many said that making it to an Olympic Qualifying Tournament was improbable.

"But with the people who believed in the dream, the team owners, the players, the sponsors, and the hard work of our staff, we were able to crack the top 24," he adds.

Coming into the Grand Finals of the Patriot's Cup, the Philippines was in 28th place with 6,257,888 points.

After the tournament, which is classified as a level-8 tournament by FIBA, the country tacked on 434,452 points, moving it past the Dominican Republic, Canada, Indonesia, and Switzerland to be ranked 24th overall.

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas is very much appreciative of the efforts of the likes of Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 in raising the profile of the sport and improving the nation's standing in the global 3x3 scene.

SBP president Al Panlilio shares, "Chooks-to-Go as a private promoter has been instrumental in helping the country increase its federation rankings and we are thankful to them."

He adds, "Our Gilas Pilipinas 3x3 national teams’ participation in international tournaments combined with local activations initiated by Smart Communications and other local promoters have also helped the Men’s and Women’s rankings in the Open, U-23, and U-18 categories."

The federation provided assistance to Chooks-to-Go with regards to their participation in FIBA-sanctioned tournaments, whilst the national team recently took part in the 2019 FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup.

Eight slots are allocated for Olympic 3x3 basketball, both for men's and women's. Hosts Japan already snapped up a spot, with the top three nations in the FIBA 3x3 rankings by November 1, 2019 will also earn spots.

Three spots will be handed out to the winners of three Olympic Qualifying Tournaments, which one has to be in the top 24 of the rankings to automatically earn such a bid.

A final spot will be awarded to the champion of the Universality-driven OQT that takes place on April 2020.

Now that the Philippines has reached the top 24, the goal has evolved to maintaining that standing, which entails conducting additional tournaments and participation in international meets.

Panlilio says, "We are truly headed towards the right direction and the SBP is overwhelmed by the support of private organizers who have significantly contributed in SBP’s mission to continuously improve in our world ranking to enable us to qualify to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics."

Mascariñas adds, "The fight is not yet over. Yes, we are happy that we made it to the top 24 but the challenge now is to maintain our standing or go even higher."

The BAVI head honcho also revealed a couple of new developments, "We are currently in talks with FIBA to host a Manila Challenger this September. Wilkins-Balanga is also preparing for the Bucharest Challenger this August. We are already preparing for our third conference, which is the Magiting Cup."

The option to potentially bid for the chance to host an OQT is on the table as well, in case the Philippines falls out of the Top 24 by the cutoff date.

FIBA OQT updates

SAMAHANG Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Sonny Barrios, 2nd left, pays a courtesy call to President-elect Rody Duterte, center, in Davao City yesterday to personally hand the formal invitation of SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan to the incoming Chief Executive for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Manila in July. Also present, from left, are SBP board member and regional director Boy Cua, SBP legal consultant Edgar Francisco and Mayor Duterte’s executive assistant Christopher ‘Bong’ Go, right.

What do we know as of late:

1. Tickets for the individual days have been made available to the public. Since it is held at the MOA Arena, SM Tickets is handling distribution.

2. Rosters are slowly taking shape. The Gilas bracket of the FIBA OQT tournament already providing some clarity with the final rosters, as both France and New Zealand whittled down their lineups to 17 and 14, respectively. 

3. Gilas also made a couple of cut-downs, as Greg Slaughter and Matt Ganuelas-Rosser both had to bow out due to injuries.

4. Due to personal matters, Andray Blatche's presence won't be made until next week at the earliest.

Overflow crowd expected for Manila FIBA Olympic Qualifier

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Executive Director Sonny Barrios expects an overflow crowd for the FIBA Olympic Qualifiers in July.

Set to take place at the Mall of Asia Arena on July 5-10, the Olympic Qualifiers represent the final chance for eighteen nations in a quest to secure one berth in the Rio Games later this year.

The former PBA Commissioner notes that plans are being made for closed-circuit coverage in movie theaters, as well as giant screens to be placed in town plazas or open parking lots, as a means to make these games more accessible to a wider audience.

The Philippines won a bid to host one of the three tournaments, and Barrios counts on home court advantage to be a factor that could put Gilas over the top, acknowledging the stiff competition they are to face on the court. He adds, "At the 2013 FIBA Asia Championships, we saw how our team was inspired by the homecrowd. For the first time in FIBA history, we witnessed the wave. No one was surprised when at the FIBA World Cup in 2014, the Philippines was named the country with the Most Valuable Fans."

The last time the Philippines made it to the Olympics was in 1972, while the last time they participated in a qualifier for men's basketball was in 1964.

FIBA to conduct Olympic qualifying draw

The Swiss city of Mies will be the focus of the basketball world later, as the draw for the composition of the three Olympic Qualifying Tournaments will be determined.

The Philippines, Italy, and Serbia were selected by the FIBA Executive Committee from eight prospective bidders to host the tournaments, with the minimum bid being 1.8 million Euros (PhP 93.7M).

Representing the Philippines as a witness for the draw is Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Executive Director Sonny Barrios, who will meet with FIBA's Director of Events Predrag Bogosevljev during his stay in Mies.

The other nations participating in the Olympic Qualifiers are France, Turkey, Greece, Croatia, Latvia, Czech Republic, Iran, Japan, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Canada, Angola, Tunisia, Senegal, and New Zealand.

Barrios says that Pinoy fans will have the "rare and golden opportunity to witness world-class competition in this Olympic qualifier." He adds that this is not "an exhibition or a tune-up or a pocket tournament," and views this competition as the same level as the 1978 FIBA World Cup (then known as the World Championships) that Manila hosted.

The Philippines has only participated in just one Olympic qualifier in its history (1964), but Barrios believes that this time it will be different, since "we will be hosting." He also says that the Qualifiers are a tougher challenge the FIBA-Asia Champioship in Changsha last year, and that the chances of winning it are slim, but believes that the homecourt advantage might be able to tilt the balance into Gilas' favor.

Sonny Barrios in Switzerland for FIBA OQT Draw and Meeting

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Executive Director Sonny Barrios is scheduled to meet with FIBA Sport and Competitions Director Predrag Bogosavljev later today at Mies, Switzerland, the same day that the draw for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament is to be conducted.

The meeting, which was requested by SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan, will center around the Philippines' preparations for the upcoming competition, which Manila, alongside Turin (Italy) and Belgrade (Serbia) will host on July 4-10.

Once Barrios arrives in Manila on Wednesday, a meeting involving SBP officials will be conducted to discuss the results of the Mies meeting.

Barrios says, “Mr. Pangilinan is leaving nothing to chance in making sure the staging of the OQT will be a huge success. Concerns like formation of the LOC , venue, transportation, security, hotel accommodations, IT and media accreditation have also been calendared for discussion right after I return.” He adds that there are already ticket inquiries for the competition, even if there is no information yet available for prices or the teams participating.

The draw itself will take place at 6:30pm today in Switzerland (1:30am on Wednesday, January 27 in Manila). Aside from the hosts, fifteen other countries will be involved in the OQT (Angola, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Iran, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Senegal, Tunisia, Latvia, Croatia and Turkey). The three remaining slots for the Olympics will be decided based on this

One can understand the draw procedure below.



The Mall of Asia Arena will serve as the venue for the Manila OQT, the same place that hosted the 2013 FIBA-Asia Championship.

The format sees the six-team pool subdivided into two groups of three teams. A round robin is slated for the sub-group, with the top two teams moving into the crossover semifinals. The winners then face off for the right to play in the Olympics.

Fate of FIBA Olympic Qualifying hosting moved to January

The waiting will have to be a little bit longer.

FIBA on Thursday revealed that it has moved the announcement of the three winning bidders for the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments from its previously scheduled date of November 23 to January 2016. Also being moved to that month is the Draw Ceremony to determine the composition of the different tournaments.

The FIBA Executive Committee only cited "technical reasons" behind the postponement in informing the 10 national basketball federations that made a bid for the hosting rights (Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Iran, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Serbia, Turkey, and the Philippines).

The Olympic Qualifying Tournaments are the means FIBA has of determining the final three berths in the Rio Olympics next August, with the champions of each tournament securing a spot in the competition.

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, Inc., under the stewardship of its President, Manny V. Pangilinan, put it a bid for the right to host one of the Qualifiers before the deadline FIBA set, in the aftermath of losing to China in the finals of the FIBA-Asia Championships.

FIBA has until the end of the year to evaluate the bids of all the participating federations in this process.