Gilas Pilipinas pressed for time again

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net

Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes knows there’s no point in complaining about lack of time to prepare for the second window of the 2019 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers.

“We’re used to that. We left for Beirut and we became together three days before the tournament started. But it is what it is,” he said on Monday.

With the Philippines’ monumental clash against Australia in Melbourne just three weeks away, Reyes is hoping to finally stage daily practices with the players, who are set to be pulled out from their mother ballclubs by next week.

“We’re in constant communication with the Commissioner’s Office. Commissioner Willie (Marcial) was here and hopefully, we get the players starting February 12, at least one week before we leave,” he said.

Naturalized center Andray Blatche, meanwhile, will only be released by his CBA team Xinjiang Flying Tigers on the said date.

“I think the CBA will release its players only on the 12th or 13th. We’re trying to get his team to release him earlier but I think the official CBA window is only from February 12 to 26.”

With little options, Reyes is just trying his earnest to get Gilas in its best shape as it visits world no. 10 Australia on February 22 before flying back home to have a rematch against Japan on February 25.

“Of course, the more time to prepare, the better for us. But that’s out of our hands,” he said. “We’ll just continue to learn and get familiar attacking against bigger-sized players.”