The Manila Chooks Philippine team hopes for a good run when they play in the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Cebu Masters taking place from 23 to 24 September at the SM Seaside City Cebu in Cebu City.
Head coach Chico Lanete said playing at home will be a chance for them to get a lot of qualification points to earn a slot in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Mac Tallo will lead the Manila Chooks team in Cebu along with Marcus Hammonds, Marquez Letcher-Ellis and Tosh Sesay.
“Our mission is to get into the Olympics next year so we have to get ready for this and win. There are more tournaments down the line but we want to focus on Cebu first,” Lanete said.
“There’s a lot of tough opponents but we shouldn’t give up.”
The 14-team tournament will have squads from the likes of China, the United States and the Netherlands vie for supremacy as each team tries to boost its bid for next year’s Summer Games.
Tallo, who was picked 10th overall by the TNT Tropang Giga in the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Draft, is positive of their chances with the squad having a good bond with one another.
“We have been practicing for two months. I can see the chemistry between us because we have been talking to one another and the goal is to win the Cebu Masters,” Tallo said.
“We really wanted to win the Cebu Masters since it will give us a huge chance to make it into the Olympics.”
