GILAS Pilipinas newcomer Troy Rike could not contain his excitement after being tapped as part of the 15-man national team pool for the third window of the 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers.
The 6-foot-7 forward from Wake Forest University said he is honored to join the teams composed mostly of PBA players as this will be an opportunity from him to learn from the veterans.
“It’s an honor to be here, just be around the team and learn from the veterans and take this first step to hopefully representing the country,” Rike said in an interview with ESPN5. “When I found out that it was actually going to happen, it was amazing.”
“Obviously, it’s the things on the court. These guys have international experience and professional experience. Any little things I can learn from them will be really helpful for me going forward,” he added.
Since coming over to Manila last month, Rike has been a fixture in national team’s practices. The Filipino-American forward even joined the Gilas Cadet in Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup recently.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to play here and play with a bunch of talented players and experience the Gilas program,” said Rike. “It’s all happening so fast, I’ve only been here for a month but I can’t stop. I’m ready to go.”
The 22-year-old Rike was called up as part of Gilas Pilipinas shortlist of head coach Vincent “Chot” Reyes for 2023 FIBA World Cup that the Philippines will be co-hosting with Japan and Indonesia.
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Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings spitfire LA Tenorio’s all-around game is one of the biggest reasons why his team is on a roll heading into the final stretch of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup elimination round.
The former Gilas Pilipinas guard averaged 14 points, 6.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 steals in leading Kings to a pair of blowout wins over the Columbian Dyip and the Alaska Aces, respectively last week.
The impressive showing made the former Ateneo Blue Eagles guard an easy choice for the Cignal-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week award for the period of June 18-24.
The 33-year-old Tenorio fired 16 points, issued 10 assists, grabbed three rebounds and added the same number of steals as the Kings hammered the Dyip, 133-104 on Wednesday.
Four days later, Tenorio churned out 12 points, five rebounds, five steals and three assists as the Kings humbled the Aces, 105-86.
The 5-10 guard beat teammate Japeth Aguilar, San Miguel Beer’s June Mar Fajardo and Marcio Lassiter, Phoenix wingman Matthew Wright, Rain or Shine guard Maverick Ahanmisi and TNT’s Troy Rosario for the weekly citation.
The Kings, which has won its last four games overall to improve to 5-5 win-loss slate, won’t be back in action until July 6 where it will face GlobalPort Batang Pier at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City./PN
