Photo from Fiba.com
Coming out of the first leg of the 2019 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers with a pair of wins, Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes is proud to see how versatile the team is with its current lineup.
“We built this team so that we’re not one-dimensional,” Reyes said. “In the past, we live and die with the three, but that’s the reason why we have the players that we have.”
The Philippine team gutted out a 77-71 victory over Japan in Tokyo last Friday, and followed it up with a 90-83 squeaker over Chinese Taipei at home on Monday to go 2-0 in Group B.
Through those victories came positive development from the players he picked as Reyes’ expectations were matched.
As always, Jayson Castro was the anchor of the team, bailing the squad out whenever the Philippines need a bucket. But also sharing the spotlight were a handful of his peers.
June Mar Fajardo finally came into his own against Chinese Taipei and dominated the paint against naturalized player Quincy Davis. Calvin Abueva also proved that his gung-ho game has a place in the international stage, providing the energy Gilas badly needed.
Kiefer Ravena lived up to his hype and showed everyone a glimpse why he has long been coveted as one of the brightest young players in the country. Roger Pogoy emerged as a reliable three-and-D option for Reyes and earned his place in the starting five. And finally, Matthew Wright connected from distance and drilled three triples to finally put away the visitors on Monday.
“You have to make sure you have a lot of weapons, but more importantly, you have to make sure that you can go to them at the right time. That’s just the way it is,” said Reyes.
“We know that we have some players that we can go to inside the paint at the post. When we play the bigger teams, we have a big advantage in quickness. Obviously, that’s not going to be the same when we play the bigger teams like Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei because they’re just as quick as us, so we have to find another advantage,” said Reyes.
“That’s just basketball. The good thing is even if we’re not shooting well from three-points, we found a way to grind out a W. Hopefully, that’s a sign of the progress and evolution of this team.”
With Gilas going on a three-month breather before facing Australia and Japan in February, Reyes said that the 2-0 record doesn’t really give the team much momentum.
What it brings, though, is a chance to correct its miscues and prepare for the tall order of upsetting the reigning Fiba Asia champions on their home floor.
“It arms us with a lot of knowledge about ourselves, on things to work on and to learn. We all know that Australia is a very, very tough team, so that’s gonna be a really, really tall order for us to play them, to compete with them at their home place. We’ll prepare as best we can against Australia, and we’ll go out, we’ll play our game and we’ll see what happens,” he said.
But if there’s something Reyes saw from this Gilas team it’s that these players will no doubt lay it all on the line for flag and country.
“The one thing I’ve learned about this team is never underestimate them and never count them out because they just keep on fighting and they just keep plugging away,” he said.