Andray Blatche playing for Gilas is ‘a cool thing,’ says DeRozan

MANILA, Philippines – Toronto Raptors All-Star DeMar DeRozan says it’s “a cool thing” that Andray Blatche will get to play for the Philippine national basketball team in the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

DeRozan, who established himself as one of the best players in the NBA this past season, expressed his opinion of Blatche’s addition to the team during a media roundtable phone conversation on Wednesday, June 25, where he also said the Raptors are one or two pieces away from elevating their status. (RELATED: DeRozan: Raptors one or two pieces away from reaching next level)

“Me personally, I think it’s a cool thing. It just makes everything that much more competitive, honestly,” DeRozan said of Blatche’s naturalization as a Filipino citizen. 

“Everybody in America and from the U.S. cannot play a lot on the Olympic team… so I think it brings the competitive and entertainment value that [gets] much higher once the games come around. ” added DeRozan, who was selected to participate in Team USA’s mini-camps in 2012 and 2013.

DeRozan has yet to play for the squad in the Olympics or previous World Championships, but he has gone up against Blatche a couple of times in the past few months.

“Andray Blatche is definitely a great player… he definitely could score the basket once he gets going,” complimented DeRozan, whose Raptors faced Blatche’s Brooklyn Nets in a seven-game series in the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs.

The Future

Unlike the United States and Philippines, Canada’s national team failed to qualify for the upcoming World Cup due to a sixth-place finish in the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship (only the top three get berths).

But the team showed potential, going 3-1 in its preliminary round schedule and having two players – Tristan Thompson (rebounds) and Cory Joseph (assists) – lead the tourney in statistical races.

With a number of talented current and soon-to-be NBA players hailing from Canada – one of which is Andrew Wiggins – DeRozan figures the club will be tough to deal with in the near future.

“The (Canadian) national team is definitely going to be a problem to be reckoned with in these coming years. That’s a lot of great talent in the NBA as of now and there are a lot of young talents coming up as well,” he warns.

Right now, there are nine Canadian players in the NBA: Thompson, Joseph, Steve Nash, Anthony Bennett, Kelly Olynyk, Andrew Nicholson, Robert Sacre, Samuel Dalambert, and Joel Anthony.

Besides Wiggins, Nik Stauskas and Tyler Ennis of Ontario are other Canadians expected to go in the first round of the 2014 NBA Draft.

“I know for a fact just me being in Toronto seeing these young guys come up, and seeing Andrew Wiggins… it’s definitely going to be a talented team that they have in the upcoming years.”

Visit to Manila

DeRozan is set to visit Manila from July 4-6 for the 2014 NBA 3X Challenge. A few weeks later, he will return along with Blake Griffin, Damian Lilard, Paul Pierce, and maybe other NBA players for ‘Gilas’ Last Home Stand’, a charity All-Star Game for the benefit of the PDRF (Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation) that will pit the NBA players against the Philippine national team.

“I’m definitely excited, you know. It’s gonna be a great experience for me, first time going to the Philippines,” DeRozan said about his upcoming arrival.

He emphasized on how he plans on learning more about the culture of the country – specifically its obsession with hoops.

“I could definitely tell the culture in the Philippines – basketball is really high, been getting a lot of tweets from fans, that’s really exciting,” he said, later adding “I can’t wait to get on this plane to head out there. I’m looking to have a lot of fun with the fans in general. Just to have fun, and to learn the culture of the Philippines at the same time. “

And he will get the best of it, as he goes toe to toe with some of the best basketball players the Philippines has to offer. – Rappler.com