Wizards JaVale McGee might be representing Philippines in next Asian Championship
JaVale McGee may become a Philippine citizen soon.
He has been offered a citizenship by the country and if things work out, he will be representing Philippines in the next FIBA and Asian championships. McGee had been in the country twice in four months and showed his interest in
playing for them. According to a report
“If everything falls into place, Smart Gilas Pilipinas will have the Washington Wizards’ seven-foot centre JaVale McGee as naturalized player for the next FIBA Asia championship. McGee had been in the country twice in the last
four months and, in his last visit, expressed willingness to be part of the Philippine team vying for a slot in the 2014 World Championship”
23 year old represents Washington Wizards and had a great outing last season. Because of his all round performance, he ended the season with an average of 10.1 and 8 rebounds.
Earlier in 2009, he was invited to represent United States of America in the FIBA championship. He took part in the mini camps too but things didn’t work out in the end. In 2010, he was again asked to represent the national team
however after unsatisfying performances in the starting games, he was dropped from the finals against China. In that tournament, US went on to win Gold.
McGee is a talented player but the problem is that US already has lot of extraordinary players because of NBA. In presence of so many super stars, it is almost impossible for a youngster like him to make it into the national team.
If McGee moves to Philippines, he will be a star there and will definitely succeed in creating an impact. Asian teams are not amongst the best basketball teams in the world so McGee’s addition to the team will make Philippines
team a considerable threat in Asian Tournaments ad he might emerge as the biggest star in Asian basketball in coming years
In the recent Asian Championship, Philippines managed to attain 4th position and because of that they were unable to make it into the Olympics. It was expected, because they had to defeat teams like Korea and China.
China was the toughest team in the region courtesy of NBA players like Yi Jianlian and Yao Ming.
McGee’s stats can improve drastically playing in Philippines as he has the agility and skills and having played three NBA season, he has significant experience of the toughest basket ball games too. In Asia, the intensity of games
is less compared to that of NBA and that will make him a big gun there.
And the fact that NBA season might be cancelled because of the lockout, McGee would be considering this move and in coming days he might reach a deal and move there.
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