The Nueva Ecija squad having the brothers in their roster to play side-to-side is important as familiarity won’t be an issue for the team as the professional 3×3 basketball league is set to commence later this month.

Rice Vanguards will be coached by Charles Tiu and assisted by Bong Cuevas where they both believed that the pro-team needs to be smart for the five-legged tournament to win the top prize of P1-million.

“Juan is probably our most talented guy. I expect him to score a lot. Javi has been working on his game. He’s shooting straight and is one of our better shooters,” Tiu said. “We also have Joe who is probably our most athletic player. He gives us a lot of athleticism and physicality.”

Completing the roster of the Nueva Ecija-based team are Gab Banal, Jai Reyes, and Tonino Gonzaga.

Meanwhile, for coach Tiu, Banal is expected to lead the squad both on and off the court in this President’s Cup that is endorsed by FIBA.

“We have Gab Banal. Banal has played before and he is our veteran guy,” said Tiu as Banal previously played for Bataan during the league’s first-ever conference before being a guest player for Basilan in international competitions.

Rice Vanguards being the shortest in the league was obviously noticed by Tiu as Javi is 6-foot-5, Banal is 6-foot-3, Joe is 6-foot-3, Gonzaga is 6-foot-1, Juan is 6-foot, and Reyes is 5-foot-7.

“Our team for one is a smart team. The guys are smart and pick up fast. We have to shoot and play fast because we are the smallest team in the tournament. We have to make it our advantage,” he said. “Actually, the challenge for me is how to rotate our players every leg.”