MANILA -- Transportation will be among the issues that the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and FIBA will have to address, 58 days before the Philippines' co-hosting of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.

The SBP's local organizing committee has conducted a simulation of transportation of players from their hotel to the playing venue to see how it will affect the conduct of the games.

This coincided with the staging of the SBP Invitational Games which served as test games for the World Cup.

"We had buses at the Araneta as well as the Philippine Arena, even from Conrad to MOA even if it just a short distance," said Erika Dy, SBP's Deputy Director for Events. "The Philippine Arena ride is still a challenge. We're still hoping to shave off a few minutes of the bus ride."

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Dy said they are coordinating with the local transport officials to make sure everything runs smoothly during the event.

"Right now we're using the bus lane so we just want to coordinate properly with the different bus stops because that's where the clogging was happening," she said.

David Crocker, FIBA executive director for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, was also present during the simulation of the games on Wednesday.

"I'm really pleased about with what I've been seeing. The self analysis is hard, when talking to director Erika Dy. That's what we expect, to look at 'Did we get it right, how do we make it better?'" said Crocker.

"If you can imagine the players getting on the bus coming to the game, having an experience of nice flowing traffic. 'I get here I, feel great.'"

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"We tested the transport system yesterday at a good time of the day but it started raining, the evening traffic so we got to see what the experience can be and how frequently we can move the buses through that time of traffic."

Crocker also bared they also tested the security in the playing venue, citing that they have positioned "intruders" who tried to breach critical areas.

"We've sent a couple of dummies through the backdoor, we tried to sneak people past accreditation to see whether it works," said Crocker.

"We had them caught on a few occasions and sent them back on their seats. We're really pleased about that."

The Philippines is co-hosting the FIBA World Cup with Japan and Indonesia from August 25 to September 10.

Gilas Pilipinas opens its campaign on August 25 against the Dominican Republic at the Philippine Arena, where the SBP is looking to set an attendance record for a basketball game.

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