The Philippine 3-on-3 basketball team sees European teams Spain and Crotia as its toughest rivals in the first Youth Olympic Games set in Singapore next month.

The Filipino dribblers, composed of Bobby Ray Parks Jr., Cris Michael Tolomia, Jeron Teng, and Michael Anthony Pate, belong to Group D of the preliminary round that also includes Spain, Croatia, South Africa and US Virgin Islands.

RP team coach Mon Jose said they were not able to scout their opponents, but he picked Spain and Croatia as two of the toughest teams considering their expected tall line up.

“Being Europeans, we expect them to be tall teams. We already know that our team is not very tall, but our advantage is that our  players have versatility in the court,” said Jose, a former varsity team member of the La Salle Green Archers.

“It’s a tough group, but the organizers made sure that all groups will have a balanced level of competition. Walang na-left-out or na-igrupo sa malalakas ng teams. Wala rin namang puro mahihinang teams ang magkaka-grupo,” Jose said of the competition that begins August 15 to 23 at the Scape Youth Space.

Teng, son of former PBA star Alvin, and Colomia, younger brother of former pro cager Chester, have already played for the country in the same event when they saw action in the Asian Youth Games also in Singapore last year where the team placed fourth behind  Korea, China and Iran.