Gilas: It’s gold or bust

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net

A Gilas Pilipinas 5.0 crew that coach Chot Reyes says still lacks preparations plunges into action on Friday, looking to take the first step back to the World Cup by ruling the Southeast Asia Basketball Association (Seaba) Championship.

With just over two weeks of being together as a unit, one official game tucked under their belts and naturalized player Andray Blatche getting just four days of practice, the Filipinos face lightweight Burma (Myanmar) in the 7 p.m. game that caps a heavy schedule at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

But by sheer talent alone, the Burmese are not expected to measure up against the Filipinos, the perennial kings of the region.

Reyes, though, is not looking at just Burma, but at the task as a whole.

“I said right from Day 1 that we are resigned to the fact that we are not going to be 100 percent prepared for the Seaba given the 10 days of practice as a team,” Reyes said. “But we are not going to use that as an excuse. We are still going to go out and play our best.”

Burma is a country that has just started picking up the game and has not shown a lot of interest in becoming a power in the region.

Only the champion here books a Fiba Asia Championship ticket for Southeast Asia, and the Philippines, with an expected romp, will be grouped together with Japan, Chinese Taipei and world power Australia when the qualifying proper begins in November.

That’s why it’s important for the Philippines to be playing well as a unit right away as the Filipinos better their chances of advancing by getting the chemistry they need in clashing with the far better teams in Asia.

The Filipinos wrapped up practice before dusk on Thursday with Blatche, hit by jetlag, asking to be relieved during scrimmage.

“It was the worst day (of his jetlag),” Reyes said. “That shows you that he’s still (not in game shape).”

This batch of Nationals was culled from the PBA, as usual, but what is unusual with this group is that Reyes has prepared past Gilas teams extensively with tune-up games here and abroad.

“Normally, for international competitions, we get 10, 12 tune-up or warm-up games,” he said. “Obviously, we weren’t able to get this here. But obviously, like I said, that’s not something you should worry about.”

Calvin Abueva, June Mar Fajardo and Terrence Romero are among those expected to lead the squad.

“I think it’s very important to set the tone (with a big win),” Reyes said. “But like I told the team in our meeting, we don’t want to win because we have the best talent, or because we have the best size. We want to win because we’re the hardest working team out there.”