READY, confident.

Ito ang pagtitiyak ni Gilas Pilipinas head coach Josh Reyes sa nalalapit na kampanya ng team sa FIBA U-17 Basketball World Cup na nakatakda mula June 29-July 7 sa Istanbul, Turkey.

Haharapin ng Pilipinas ang Lithuania sa kanilang unang laro, kasunod ang Spain at Puerto Rico.

Ang mga ito ay itinuturing na heavyweights sa basketball world.

“When we say we are going up against the best, we are going up against the best,” pahayag ni Reyes sa kanyang pagdalo sa Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum sa Rizal Memorial Sports Complex kamakailan.

“Lithuania is competing for the podium and Spain will try to win it all. They are a European powerhouse. For sure, in this team are future NBA players,” paliwanag pa ni Reyes, na sinamahan ng kanyang mga players Kieffer Alas, Irus Chua at Paul Diao sa weekly forum na itinataguyod ng San Miguel Corporation, Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, MILO, Smart/PLDT at ArenaPlus.

“It’s a very daunting task on the world stage. But we prepared for this so we can deliver a performance worthy of the Philippine flag,” dagdag ni Reyes, na anak ni dating Gilas coach Chot Reyes.

Sa huling FIBA Under-17 World Cup sa Argentina, nabigong manalo kahit isang laro ang Gilas sa group stage subalit nanalo ng tatlong games sa classification phase, kabilang na ang mga laro laban sa China at New Zealand.

Sa Turkey, kumpiyansa naman ang mga batang Gilas players.

“We want to prove to them na hindi lang tayo pang Asia,” pahayag ni Alas, anak ni dating PBA head coach Louie Alas at kapatid ni Gilas veteran Kevin Alas.

Matapos ang maikling training camp sa Laguna, aalis ang Gilas team patungo sa Istanbul sa June 22, isang linggo bago ang inaabangang pakikipagsagupa sa mga Lithuanians.

“We don’t have any delusions. It will be an uphill battle but that’s the reason we are preparing hard. And no matter what the situation is, we want to perform to the best of our abilities whether we are ahead or down big,” sabi pa ni Reyes.