Two deputy coaches play crucial scouting roles

THERE are so many heroes for Gilas Pilipinas outside of the guys on the bench during game time. Assistant coaches Ryan Gregorio and Nash Racela are just two of them.

Gregorio and Racela do a lot of the dirty work behind the scenes as advance scouts, helping the coaching staff prepare strategy for foes in the 2013 Fiba Asia Championship.

“It’s been a lot of sleepless nights but it’s worth it because we’re doing this for love of country,” said Gregorio.

“We stay up late, sometimes until 4 a.m.,” added Racela.

How efficient are they as scouts?

Gregorio was actually finishing a thoroughly detailed scouting report on China—which he showed to the Inquirer—when he got the call informing him of Qatar’s victory over Chinese Taipei, one that rerouted the Philippines’ quarterfinal foe.

He and Racela had to redo the scouting report, focusing on Kazakhstan instead. The Inquirer also got a look at how detailed the slideshow on Kazakhstan was, breaking down every player to his most minute tendencies.

“A lot of it is about long hours and time management,” said Racela, who doubles as FEU head coach in the UAAP. “When I go to sleep around 2 a.m., coach Ryan is working on his report. When I get up at 4 a.m. to leave for FEU practice, he’s still going at it.”

Both said there would be no greater reward than for the Philippines to qualify for next year’s Fiba World Cup in Spain.