Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Andray Blatche may have been away from Gilas Pilipinas for much of 2017, and yet the big man felt like he never left.
Gilas held a practice session Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum in preparation for its game against Japan in the 2019 Fiba World Cup qualifiers where Blatche is once again the team’s naturalized player.
“We had practice earlier in the day and I’m pretty much comfortable with the offense, the defense, the players, and the coaching staff,” said Blatche, who arrived in the country early Sunday morning.
“It was a quick adjustment for me.”
Blatche was also visibly in great shape, a far cry when he arrived in the country for the last Fiba qualifiers in 2016.
The former Brooklyn Net played for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association and his commitment with the club was the reason why he had just joined Gilas’ practices.
“I feel great, I’m in good shape and this was because I was playing overseas in China,” said Blatche.
He added that Fiba’s new home and away format does not bother him, and that the team is focused on winning in wherever country they’re in.
“I’m just looking forward to winning, whenever where we at the main focus is winning,” said Blatche. “We’ll go to Japan and get a win, we’ll come back here and get a win, that’s the goal.”