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Nueva Ecija will show off a stacked team ready to defeat the Chooks Zamboanga in the 2020 3 × 3 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas President’s Cup presented by TM.
And heading up the crack team, trained by Charles Tiu and backed by Bong Cuevas, are the Gómez de Liaño brothers: Joe, Javi and Juan.
And having a trio of brothers in the trio is particularly important. It means familiarity will not be an issue for the Rice Vanguards, with the first 3×3 professional basketball league in the country already opening later this month.
“Juan is probably our most talented guys. I hope you score a lot. Javi has been working on his game. He’s shooting straight and he’s one of our best shooters. “ Tiu said.
“We also have Joe, who is probably our most athletic player. It gives us a lot of athleticism and physicality,”The young mentor added.
In addition to the trio, Nueva Ecija will also feature Gab Banal, Jai Reyes and Tonino Gonzaga.
Tiu expects Banal to lead the team both on and off the pitch in this FIBA-backed tournament.
“We have Gab Banal. Banal has played before and is our veteran,Tiu said, as Banal previously played for Bataan during the league’s first conference before being a guest player for Basilan in international competitions.
However, Tiu noted that his team is the lowest in the league. Javi is 6ft 5, Banal is 6ft 3, Joe is 6ft 3, Gonzaga is 6ft 1, Juan is 6ft and Reyes is 5ft 7.
That’s why for Tiu, they have to be smart for the five-stage tournament to win the P1 million jackpot.
“Our team for one is a smart team. Boys are smart and fast learners. We have to shoot and play fast because we are the smallest team in the tournament. We have to turn it to our advantage,” he said.
“Actually, the challenge for me is how to rotate our players at each stage.”
