Coach Chot Reyes. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
The Gilas-Pilipinas five returned home yesterday and the first thing that coach Chot Reyes wants is for the Nationals to be able to book practices at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
The Fiba Asia men’s basketball championship is just over six weeks away and the Arena is the main site of the 16-nation tournament that will stake World Championship berths to the top three placers.
Reyes and his crew touched down at the Manila International Airport just past lunchtime yesterday coming from a two-week training stint in Lithuania, where they played commercial teams there and the Under-20 national team.
They wound up with a 5-2 record but beat the Lithuanian U-20 twice by narrow margins.
“Priority #1: Book practices at MOA,” Reyes said in his Twitter account @coachot, moments before taking off from Thailand for their connecting flight back to Manila.
“Since we started, we’ve only practiced there ONCE, coz it’s fully booked,” he said. “Maski 6 a.m. or 10 p.m. OK po sa amin (Even 6 a.m. or 10 p.m. slots would be okay for us).”
The Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Vito Cruz will be the secondary venue of the games.