Chan and David were both members of the Gillas squad that defeated South Korea in a memorable semi-final at the 2013 FIBA Asia Cup in Manila in the process of bringing the Philippines back to the FIBA World Cup for the first time since 1978.
Chan, who is one of Gillas' ambassadors for the recent Naismith Trophy Tour in Davao, said, "The Korean game will always be memorable for us, and for the whole country, as they say, because the Korean curse has been broken."
"It was our ticket to the (2014) World Cup, and I'm really proud of our team and our manager. I really hope this happens again this time," he added.
David, nicknamed "El Granada," also mentioned that playing in front of a home crowd felt very good, knowing that fans were right behind them to cheer them up during the game.
"It was a really good feeling to play in front of our fans because there was a qualifying round here (for the World Cup) in 2013, and now it will definitely be a good feeling to play here for the World Cup again," David, 45, said in Filipino.
Both players represented the Philippines at the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Seville, where Gilas played suitable matches for Croatia, Argentina, Puerto Rico, and Greece to the world-class national team, losing by a narrow margin.
Then, the Philippine team finished the tournament with a narrow overtime victory over Senegal, and won its first World Cup title since winning two games in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1974.
David knew that the Philippines would face formidable opponents in the group stages, including the Dominican Republic, Angola and Italy, and encouraged Gilas players to play, focus on the task at hand, and hopefully take their outside shots.
David, who averaged 5.1 points and 1.5 rebounds for the national team over the two years from 2013 to 2014, stressed that "shooting from the outside is really important in international matches." 토토사이트
Chan can't help but agree.
"I believe and trust (Coat Reyes's) system," left-handed Chan said. "If we can't win the next game (on the group stage), we still think there's a classification stage where we can win and become the best Asian team to advance to the Olympics."