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NT Preview: Pilipinas vs Belgium

In what appears to be their most crucial game in this season’s Consolation Tournament, Team Pilipinas faces a favored Belgian squad on Monday, January 25.

The Filipinos (4-0), led by the Awesome Foursome of Royce Cardino, Vincent Banico, Rojun Ibarreta, and Howell Rios, are expected to use their inside game against the Belgians (3-1), who are led by bigmen Jacques Verreck and Jean-Pierre Turf.

“We noticed the Belgians have an injured player in their roster, so we are hoping to capitalize on that weakness,” NT Coach Lord Woody said during a Zoom interview. “We are known to be the underdog in this upcoming match, we will give our all and show them our puso.”

Keys to the game:

1) Can Team Pilipinas’ big men dominate the paint? – The Nationals’ frontcourt has a lot to prove against the Belgians, especially since Coach Woody gave each player a leash two days after their match against España “so they won’t disappear”

2) Will Howell Rios deliver? – The Pilipinas big man has proven he can step up when it matters after posting a highly efficient game against the Canadians. He was nearly issued an APB, however, against the Spaniards

Predictions:
Via BB-odds: Pilipinas + 14.5
Final Score from BB-odds: 108-94, Belgium
My prediction: 102-99, Belgium

NT Inside Scoop
Paspe bought sneakers for his team, loses game shape

Ramsey Paspe decided to purchase 12 pairs of sneakers from his latest superfan, the God of Kicks to support his local basketball club. Under normal circumstances, this would have been no big deal. But with a crucial game against Belgium, pundits are now asking if this was the right time to do so.

“God of Kicks has an offer to all sneaker buyers: Buy 12 pairs of shoes, and you get to meet the seller in person. I decided to purchase those sneakers for the benefit of my team (Clark Skyforce). Also, there is nothing wrong with meeting your fans and getting to talk to them,” Paspe said during a phone interview.

Since meeting with the God of Kicks, Paspe’s play in his last 3 regular season games regressed, averaging only 7.7 points with an efficiency of 24% from the field (8/32). He was averaging 21 points per game with a 55% efficiency from the field (28/51).

It was noticed that Paspe was tired, especially in his last outing against Burninators. His legs were visibly wobbly, and had to nurse his right hand from time to time.

Team coach The Admiral was not available for comment as of this writing.

Ramsey "Papito" Paspe. Hahahahaha!

That took a lot of guts (and a lot of scouting) from coach Morwood to do double GDP. We were going back-and-forth a lot really late last night. I just admire how good he is in scouting, we haven't seen a lot of GDP in the actual games but he's been guessing the opponent's tactics right for a few consecutive games. We've strung a couple of really good wins this season in the NT consolation tournament. Hoping we end the season with HCA in the bag. Let's go!

WHAT. A.WIN.
Congratulations, Coach Morwood on winning against Belgium. That was a tough matchup yet you managed to pull off the upset. This is a testament to how hard you’ve been working and how well you run the team.

Nice win you got your mojo back. Lets keep morale high.