Gilas faces tough test in game against New Zealand’s Wellington Saints

Big man Rick Rickert and guards Lindsay Tait and Corey Webster are some of the notable names the Philippine national men’s basketball team will be facing when they battle the Wellington Saints in one of the games included in their New Zealand training camp.

Rickert, a 6-foot-11 second round pick of the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2003 NBA Rookie Draft, joined the Saints last month and has since created huge impact on the squad. He was named Player of the Week recently in the NZNBL.

In four games that he has played with the Saints, Rickert had a double-double average of 20.8 points and 14 rebounds on a steady 66-percent shooting from the field.

An NBA veteran, Rickert also played for the Detriots Pistons and tested competitor overseas, playing in the Euroleague (Krka Novo Mesto), Panellinios B.C. Athens (Greece), Lleida Bàsquet (Spain – 2nd Division), Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BCN) and four NBA D-League teams among others — Asheville Altitude, Fayetteville Patriots, Colorado 14ers, and D-League All Star Team that traveled to China.

Webster, on the other hand, has been the leading scorer of the squad, averaging 21.3 points. The 6-foot-2 guard has been rock steady for the Saints in the 10 games that he has played.

Trait, another 6-foot-2 guard, who became a member of the NBL champion squad Auckland Pirates last year. He has averaged 20.1 points in 13 games with the squad and has been the team’s most efficient distributor, with 8.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game.

Wellington will be one of only few crack teams Gilas Pilipinas will be facing. The Filipinos are scheduled to leave on July 9 and in the New Zealand stint includes a game against the Tall Blacks, the country’s national men’s basketball team.

The Gilas Pilipinas five will also have stints in Napier and Auckland, according to head coach Chot Reyes.

“12,13,14 in Napier. 16 Wellington, 17,18 Auckland,” wrote Reyes on his Twitter account.