News: Gilas Stopper Marc Pingris Happy With Chance To Defend Lebron James During Scrimmage LeBron James was merely supposed to coach a team of college stars during a scrimmage against the Philippine national men’s basketball team during his Witness History event on Tuesday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. But when the four-time NBA Most Valuable Player checked himself into the game, Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes had a huge problem on his hands. Reyes turned to San Mig Coffee forward Marc Pingris, the man he has designated as the national team’s top defensive stopper, to try to stop the reigning back-to-back NBA finals MVP. But James showed why he was the best player in the world, knocking down multiple three-pointers over Pingris. “Ginawa siyang asintahan,” said Reyes with a laugh after the scrimmage. Pingris said it was a good experience matching up with James. “Tina-try ko yung best ko na stop-in siya, pero wala, kinain ako,” he admitted good-naturedly. “Siyempre, masarap kasi si LeBron James, pinapanood mo lang yan, tapos nasa harap mo, dinedepensahan mo ngayon. “At least maganda yung experience.” Gilas had the last laugh, as the national team ended up winning the scrimmage after two James misses late. “The reason why I missed those last two shots,” James said in an address to the jampacked crowd, “is because my jersey is too damn small.” For Reyes, it was a good test for Pingris, who will draw the toughest assignments come the Asian championship. “Sabi namin, it will be like guarding (Sammad Nikkhah) Bahrami of Iran or Yi Jianlian of China,” said Reyes. “We wanted to see how he would fare against that kind of player.” Fortunately for Pingris and the rest of the Gilas squad, James — or anyone remotely near his caliber — won’t be seeing action in the FIBA Asia Championship.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 04:07:25 +0000
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