With the Fiba World Cup less than two months away, Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes is in a hurry to get as many tuneup games as he can for his intrepid crew to get them to know each other better.
The Nationals, who will be playing in the World Cup in Spain for the first time in 43 years starting Aug. 30, arrived in Wuhan, China, to see action in the Fiba Asia Cup as Reyes’ preparations for the World Cup as well as the Asian Games go full throttle.
And by doing this, he is risking player injuries or burnout. But Reyes said it would all be worth it.
“It’s not only the injury, but it can also burn them out,” Reyes admitted Tuesday night during the team’s sendoff party in Quezon City.
“But it’s a choice between going to the Fiba World Cup a little bit tired but more prepared, or being fresh but not knowing each other.
“I don’t want to go to the Worlds without playing (the regulars) with (newly naturalized center) Andray Blatche eight or nine games,” he added.
Blatche, though, did not make the trip to Wuhan because he is taking care of a new contract in the NBA after opting out of the final two years of his pact with the Brooklyn Nets.
In China, the Philippines will play Chinese-Taipei tomorrow, Singapore on Monday and Jordan, which is now being handled by original Gilas coach Rajko Toroman, on Tuesday.
The Taiwan squad was one of the only two teams that dealt the Filipinos a loss in the Fiba Asia tournament in Manila last August.
A fifth team in Group B, Uzbekistan, withdrew at the last minute, giving everyone in the bracket a free ride to the crossover quarterfinals where they will clash with four of the five members of Group A, Japan, Indonesia, India, host China and defending champion Iran.
The Philippines finished fourth in the last Fiba Asia Cup, held in Tokyo, in 2012.
Reyes also left behind several team members—Jason Castro, Jimmy Alapag, Gabe Norwood and Jeff Chan—and added Jay Washington and two members of the Gilas cadet pool to play in China.
When they return, the Nationals will then play a selection of NBA stars in a charity event dubbed “Gilas Last Home Stand” on July 22 and 23, before leaving for the United States to train.