Norwood excited by possibility of guarding NBA players Batum, Wiggins

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines will be a busy place for hoops come July 4-10 when one of the 3 Olympic Qualifying Tournaments for the 2016 Rio Olympics men’s basketball tournament takes place in Manila.

With only 3 slots remaining for the Olympics – the other two will be decided by the OQTs held in Serbia and Italy – only one winner from the Manila OQT will get a ticket to Rio, and the Philippines clearly has stiff competition.

After the FIBA OQT draw held last week, the country’s men’s national basketball – Gilas Pilipinas – is going to be in the same group as Canada, Senegal, Turkey, France, and New Zealand. 

(READ: Sizing up Gilas Pilipinas’ foes at the Olympic Qualifiers)

Those countries boast of quite a few quality NBA players. 

For example, France has 4-time NBA champion Tony Parker, young talents like Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier, and reliable veterans such as Nic Batum and Boris Diaw.

Canada, meanwhile, has a formidable young duo of Tristan Thompson and Andrew Wiggins, plus a reliable point guard in Cory Joseph.

“As a competitor, it has to get you excited,” said Gabe Norwood, one of Gilas’ mainstays and known as one of the team’s most reliable lockdown defenders.

It’s possible that Norwood, the 6-foot-5 forward, will be assigned to defend the best perimeter players of Gilas’ upcoming opponents. 

He actually has experience guarding players of France. During a tune-up game leading up to the 2014 FIBA World Cup, the Philippine team – then still coached by Chot Reyes – faced the Frenchmen which the latter won, 75-68.

Norwood says he remembers guarding Batum for most of that game and actually held his own for the first 3 quarters until the now Charlotte Hornet took over in the final period.

“I had the chance going up against Batum two years ago when we played France in France… that was an eye-opener,” said a laughing Norwood.

“It’s going to be unbelievable,” he said about the prospect of having many NBA talents experience basketball in the Philippines.

“If the world doesn’t know it by now, which I’m sure they do, [but] if they don’t by chance, they’re going to see how much basketball is loved here in the country.

“I think the countries that are here are going to go back and tell everyone they come in contact with that basketball is the heart of this country.”

Not all NBA players playing for the aforementioned international squads are assured of coming to Manila. The Olympics Qualifiers take place right as NBA free agency takes place, which could be a hindrance as players negotiate for new contracts.

Batum, for one, is an impending unrestricted free agent.

The NBA season also usually caps off in mid June with the NBA Finals – a level the Spurs, which has both Parker and Diaw, could be playing in given they have the second best record in the league today. 

Following a gruelling 82-game regular season and an even more taxing playoff run, the two might elect to rest instead. The same goes for Thompson, who plays for a Cavaliers team expected to make the finals a second straight season.

Nevertheless, NBA players or not, each international club is still talented and will be a force to be reckoned with.

“We all did the same things to get to the same point, so I feel like why not?” Norwood said about Gilas’ chances to come out on top.

“It’s a game of basketball, and I think we’ve proven not just to ourselves but to the country we can definitely compete.

“Now the next step is winning, and hopefully the stage is that opportunity for us to really step up and learn from those things we had in Spain (World Cup), and learn from FIBA Asia (in China).” – Rappler.com