“It was unbelievable, the crowd was great,” France squad and NBA star Tony Parker told Philippine media during a press conference after the France-Philippines match, Tuesday night, in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
“I was looking forward to the game. Obviously basketball is the number one sport in Philippines and it was a big game for them,” he added.
“I had a great time. The crowd, they tried to push everyone to beat us,” he added. “It was a great game and I had a lot of fun. I can’t wait to play more games here.”
He also noted that Philippines is great for basketball.
Parker said the Philippine team “played with a lot of energy, and you have to give a lot of credit to them.”
France leaned on its two NBA veterans Tony Parker and Boris Diaw and Euro League Most Valuable Player Nando De Colo to stop the hard fighting Philippines team led by naturalized Andre Blatche. The final score was 84-92.