Veteran Lanete leads revamped Chooks 3×3 to Doha World Tour

New faces will make the stand for Manila Chooks TM when the 2021 FIBA 3×3 World Tour Doha Masters rolls around from March 26 to 27.

Cleared to represent the country in the maximum level (level 11) tournament are Chico Lanete, Mac Tallo, Zachy Huang, and Dennis Santos.

Lanete, 41, is a 6-foot guard who has been a 5-on-5 pro since 2006. He made his 3×3 debut last year with Uling Roasters-Butuan in the 2020 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 President’s Cup.

Joining him are 6-foot former 5-on-5 pro Tallo, 6-foot-4 ex-UST Growling Tiger Huang, and 6-foot-5 stretch big Dennis Santos.

The team coached by Aldin Ayo was able to clear their RT-PCR tests last Tuesday and are currently in home quarantine as they leave on March 20.

“We are starting but I believe that we are starting on the right foot,” said Ayo. “We established a new culture and new approach. Hopefully, the players respond. For us coaches, we are doing our best also and we are grateful to Chooks-to-Go’s support.”

“All of these players are given another opportunity. So that’s the big thing players can hold on to, that second chance.They are motivated to prove that they can still play,” he continued.

Manila Chooks TM will have to go through the qualifying draw with host Doha and Austria’s Graz before it can make it to the main draw.

Already seeded are top teams Liman of Serbia, Riga of Latvia, Ub of Serbia, NY Harlem of USA, Princeton of USA, Novi Sad of Serbia, Amsterdam Talent&Pro of the Netherlands, Piran of Slovenia, Šakiai Gulbelė of Lithuania, Edmonton of Canada, and Lusail of Qatar.

The Manila team, though, remains unfazed heading into the tough competition.

“Although maliliit kami, may mga technique pa rin kami sa bawat kalaban. Nagpapasalamat kami kay boss Ronald (Mascariñas) at sa Chooks-to-Go dahil kahit pandemic, nandun pa rin ang suporta nila,” said Lanete.

(Although we are small, we have techniques for every opponent. We thank boss Ronald and Chooks-to-Go because they’re still supporting us.) – Rappler.com