Philippines’ centre Andray Blatche gestures during the 2014 FIBA World basketball championships group B match Philippines vs Puerto Rico at the Palacio Municipal de Deportes in Sevilla. AFP File Photo
PLAYING basketball is tough, with all the rigors of the sport draining players of their energy with every jump and every step.
Playing professional basketball for three straight days on a diet is even harder.
When Andray Blatche returned to the Philippines a week before the Master Game Face MVP Cup from the United States, the naturalized Filipino was not in the best shape of his career.
Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tab Baldwin wanted his big man to lose the pounds, but he did not want Blatche to run the ground.
What Baldwin did was of the unconventional.
He starved Blatche.
“I told him ‘we’re going to starve you,'” Baldwin said Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum. “We weren’t going to run him to the ground, he’s gonna get injured.”
“He was on a soup and salad diet since he was back here. He had no energy for the Cup, he had no energy because he had no fuel in his tank.”
Baldwin said they did not order Blatche to starve himself but he was happy his import volunteered to go on the diet.
Blatche only had a full meal on lunch of Sunday.
“He did it voluntarily,” Baldwin said. “It’s no fun to starve.”