MANILA Chooks! kicks off its 2023 campaign in the International Basketball Federation 3X3 Pro League Netherlands 2023 Winter Edition Stop 1 that starts Thursday in Amsterdam.
The team is composed of the country’s No. 1 3×3 player Mac Tallo, No. 2 Brandon Ramirez and No. 3 Dennis Santos. They arrived in Amsterdam on Wednesday.
Determined to bolster its roster, Manila Chooks! also tapped former University of the East standout CJ Payawal and former National University forward Matt Salem.
Manila Chooks! is bracketed in Pool D and will clash first with Amstelveen of Netherlands and world No. 15 Utrecht on Thursday.
Chooks-to-Go president and team owner Ronald Mascariñas stood firm on his vision of sending a Philippine squad to the Paris 2024 Olympics under head trainer Chico Lanete.
“I am excited about what this team can achieve, especially with our new reinforcements,” Mascariñas said. “The more games they play, the better they become as a team.”
“We will always be here to support them and keep our dream of seeing a Philippine 3×3 team in the 2024 Paris Olympics alive,” said the godfather of Philippine 3×3. “The team has been preparing hard for their first FIBA 3×3 tournament of the year.”
The other ranked teams in Amsterdam are world No. 5 Amsterdam of the Netherlands, No. 20 Warsaw of Poland and No. 21 Düsseldorf of Germany.
The tournament consists of three stops and a final with the winner after three stops taking home $15,000 and a ticket to Manila Masters.
The second and third placers will bag $10,000 and $5,000, respectively.
The winner in the final will bank $15,000 and a slot to the Macau Masters with the second and third placers getting $7,000 and $5,000, respectively.
The games are aired on Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas Facebook page.