Guam basketball to take on China and Japan in FIBA Asia Cup Qualifier

Win or lose, as they gear up to play in their most important tournament, the Bank of Guam men’s national basketball team has already made history. On Thursday, in the FIBA 2025 Asia Cup Qualifier, No. 80 world-ranked Guam will face No. 30 China at the Hefei Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, in Hefei, China. Then, on Nov. 24, Guam will return home and play Japan at the University of Guam Calvo Field House. Currently, Japan is ranked No. 21. “I believe that it is already a success for Guam basketball and Guam sports in general to be competing at this level. We are making history and will do our best,” said Guam head coach EJ Calvo. “Our primary goal is to get better with every opportunity and make the most of the experience and exposure for our program and for our island.” Same as in FIBA-level competition previously, with the majority of Team Guam’s players living and playing internationally, preparation for the Asia Cup Qualifier has been difficult. With only four days to practice with the entire squad, the team will need to gel quickly and efficiently. “Preparation has been challenging, as we struggle to get high-level competition consistently on island for most of our players. Fortunately, every player activating this week has experience playing for me in previous FIBA games, and I’m confident we will get it together quickly,” EJ Calvo said. “We have four on-court practices together and daily meetings starting this Sunday in Shanghai.” With Tai Wesley (201-F-1986, college: Utah St.) and Curtis Washington (208-F-1991, college: Georgia St.) unavailable for the qualifier, as both have previous commitments, Guam will have to rely on younger talent to fill the void. “I’m excited to see some of our young talent step up and grow,” said EJ Calvo, sharing that he expects Borja II Ben (203-F/C-1998, college: Cal Maritime) and Matthew Fegurgur (206-F-2001) “to play hard against some very good professional post players.” With a plan for his post players in place, EJ Calvo’s strategy for the back court will rely on youth, quickness and capable 3-point shooting. “Our young guards – Tomas Calvo (178-PG-2000, college: Cal Lutheran), Jahmar White (173-PG-2001), Takumi Simon and Reo Aiken – were leading the way for our Guam U17 team back in 2017, and now they will supply skill and speed for our men’s senior team against China and Japan. Coach Jin Han and I coached that U17 team and secured bronze behind Australia and New Zealand,” EJ Calvo said. “It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come.”
Courtesy of: postguam.com