CHOT Reyes, the previous coach of Gilas Pilipinas, swore he “won’t go to Spain without a seven-footer.”
This was two years ago, after the national basketball team secured a slot in the Fiba World Cup that was disputed in Spain last year.
Reyes got his wish in the person of Andray Blatche, an NBA veteran who was listed at six-foot-eleven.
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For the record, Blatche was able to perform to his full height in Spain, playing both pillar and frontal scorer in Gilas’ well-applauded campaign.
There were indeed big hopes for the Gilas team in its succeeding campaign in the Incheon Asian Games. However, Blatche had to be scratched from the national team roster after it turned out he was not qualified to represent the country under the Olympic Committee of Asia (OCA) rules.
Gilas had to make do with a substitute reinforcement, Marcus Douthit, who had helped the Philippines land the World Cup slot by powering the team to a second-place finish, behind Iran, in the 2013 Fiba Asia Championship played at Mall of Asia Arena.
The least said about the Gilas team travails in the Incheon Asian Games, the better.
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Reyes would next step down as national coach and Gilas was put under the care and supervision of a credentialed international coach, Tab Baldwin.
Meanwhile, nothing would be heard of Blatche, while Douthit, a naturalized reinforcement like Blatche, subsequently announced his retirement from the national squad.
Blatche, by the way, had to be recalled to rejoin the Gilas squad that is preparing to fight for the lone Olympic slot for Asia which will be disputed in Hunan, China, starting later this month.
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Naturally, Baldwin had Blatche on top of the list when he named members of the national basketball team pool.
Baldwin would later rue the lack of depth in the national pool following the inexplicable pullout of calibered members of the team that did wonders in the Fiba World Cup.
Baldwin had to scratch bottom, so to say, in order to complete a competitive staff.
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Meanwhile, it could not be readily determined if Blatche would be able to make a timely return to help prepare for the Olympic qualifying tournament.
In fact, in Blatche’s first try to fly back to Manila, he missed his flight. He had overslept.
Blatche did show up finally. But to the dismay of his coach, he was grossly overweight. He had not visited a basketball court for four months.
Just the same, he was made to join Gilas in a pocket tournament in Estonia where the national team lost all its games.
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Blatche was also included in the national squad for the Jones Cup tournament, but sadly missed the championship entirely due to the death of an uncle in the United States.
He was away again for nearly two weeks, and finally reappeared in Manila in time for the MVP Cup.
Unfortunately, the naturalized team pillar who had to huff and puff in Estonia, was even bigger, heavier
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If it were in boxing, he would’ve been scratched out of the scheduled fight card.
There was no turning back, though, and Blatche predictably proved a dead weight on the Gilas squad that topped the MVP Cup on the heroics of its second smallest member, Terrence Romeo.
Blatche, the big man prayed for by Chot Reyes, has not only played beneath his height. He has become the biggest problem for the national squad.
Blatche, 29, appeared on the family way in the Gilas Pilipinas game against the Wellington Saints on Saturday.