Philippines 3X3 2020 Olympic Qualifying Team Announced

Joshua Munzon (3) and Alvin Pasaol (23) will lead the Philippines to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

THE SAMAHANG Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) has officially announced the names of the players for the FIBA 3X3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament set for March 18 to 22, 2020 in Bengaluru, India.  Leading the team will be top Filipino players Joshua Munzon and Alvin Pasaol of Chooks To Go Pilipinas 3X3 plus Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) superstars and 30^th Southeast Asian Games gold medallists Moala Tautuaa of San Miguel Beer and CJ Perez of Columbian Dyip.

According to the latest FIBA 3X3 World Rankings, Munzon is the 105^th best player in the world with 190,313 points while Pasaol is ranked 144^th at 128,854 points.  Tautuaa is at 36,706^th with 941 points while Perez is unranked.

The reserves will be Karl Dehesa (198^th, 87,364 points) and Leonard Santillan (233^rd, 74,115 points) who both have experience playing in the tough FIBA 3X3 World Tour.  Head coach will be Stefan Stojacic of Serbia while his countryman Coach Darko Krsman will be in charge of strength and conditioning.

The line-up is the result of a committee discussion chaired by SBP Executive Director Sonny Barrios.  Making up the committee are respected veteran coaches Eric Altamirano, Ronnie Magsanoc, Joseph Uichico and Patrick Aquino.

With one month left before the India joust, the team continues to train daily.  Only the top three teams will earn slots to play in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where 3X3 will be contested for the very first time.

The Philippines has been drawn in Group C with Slovenia, France, Qatar and Dominican Republican.  Only the top two will advance to the knockout quarterfinals hence making every game very important.

SBP President Al Panlilio has called on all Filipinos to rally behind and support the team.  It is a big honor to be among the 20 that will vie for slots in the Olympics.