Puerto Rico’s forward Renaldo Balkman (C) vies with Senegal’s centre Hamady Ndiaye (L) and Senegal’s forward Mohamet Diop during the 2014 FIBA World basketball championships group B match Senegal vs Puerto Rico at the Palacio Municipal de Deportes in Sevilla on August 31, 2014. AFP PHOTO/ PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU
SEVILLE, Spain—Reeling from two straight losses already, Gilas Pilipinas is seriously thinking of giving Andray Blatche two days of rest to recover from a twisted right knee and give his wards a fighting chance in their last two games in the the Fiba World Cup.
Set to play Argentina at press time, Reyes was flirting with the thought of letting Blatche cool his heels on the bench and have him healthier for Puerto Rico on Wednesday and Senegal the day after.
“It’s a game time decision,” Reyes told reporters in this quaint city before his wards slug it out with the World No. 3 Argentines at 5:30 p.m. Monday (11:30 p.m. in Manila) at Centro Deportivo San Pablo.
“We’re thinking of resting him so we can have him fresh for Puerto Rico and Senegal,” added Reyes. “But it’s hard to do that because of the Filipinos who are coming over here.
“You can see the crowd,” he said. “So how can we do that (rest Blatche)?”
The Filipinos need to win at least two of their last three assignments to have a mathematical chance of advancing.
With their rest day coming on Tuesday, the Filipinos can take it easy against the truly tough Argentine five and let it all hang out in the final two games, which would be KO matches for them.
Reyes said that he needs everyone to click in one game and has credited scouts of the opposing countries for shutting down the versatile Ranidel de Ocampo.
“To their credit, Ranidel has been scouted well,” Reyes said.
June Mar Fajardo played his best international game against the Greeks in an 82-70 loss Sunday night, and if Blatche is rested, the 6-foot-10 San Miguel Beer cornerstone might just get his chance to play even more.
Marc Pingris, the undersized power forward at 6-foot-5, is averaging close to nine points and six rebounds.