THERE'S no rest for the weary as Team Pilipinas buckles down to work just hours after enduring its long delayed flight from its campaign in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers.
The team arrived in Manila early Saturday morning at the height of Typhoon Ompong's fury following a 12-hour stopover in Dubai due to the inclement weather in Manila.
Coach Yeng Guiao and his boys left Tehran shortly after its 81-73 loss to Iran Thursday night in the hope of arriving in the country by Friday, only to be holed out in Dubai where they spent half a day waiting for their flight back home.
But after a brief respite, the nationals gathered together again Saturday afternoon at the Novotel Hotel for an hour-long team viewing in preparation for its scheduled closed-door game against Qatar on Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The coaching staff decided at the last-minute to cancel its scheduled practice at Victoria Sports, but set another one on Sunday at the Meralco gym.
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The Qataris meanwhile, arrived in the country Friday led by sweet-shooting big man Yehia Abdelhaleem and NBA veteran and naturalized player Trey Johnson.
They are coming off a 95-43 rout at the hands of Australia also on Thursday night at home.
Guiao is expected to come up with Team Pilipinas' lineup on Sunday, with Japeth Aguilar and Matthew Wright eligible again to join the squad after previously serving out their one-game suspension during the Iran outing.
As part of the 12-man roster, Guiao will also have to choose again who between Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle play as the team's naturalized player against Qatar.
Standhardinger was a pillar of strength inside against Iran as he finished with 30 points and 12 rebounds for Team Pilipinas, which unfortunately, struggled hitting its shots from the outside where it went 5-of-28 from three-point range and 25-of-65 overall from the field.
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Also still up in the air is the health situation of big man Greg Slaughter who wasn't included in the team's 12-man lineup against Iran owing to an ankle injury.(RG)
