Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
The good news is that Andray Blatche is in his best shape for Gilas Pilipinas ahead of the second window of the 2019 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers.
The bad news, however, is that the Philippines is again pressed for time with a showdown against world No. 10 Australia just less than two weeks away.
Starting Gilas’ daily practices on Monday at Greenhills West Gym, Reyes shared that just like last time, he’s trying his best to fast-track everything as he makes do with problems surrounding the availability of the players.
“They will still all play until Sunday so you can imagine how hard it is for us to prepare,” he said. “The PBA players are still going to be playing with their mother teams all throughout this week. So that’s why we’re kind of grappling with that situation now. That’s why it’s very hard to make any decisions on to who will make the lineup.”
Reyes couldn’t help but express his frustration, knowing that the team is set to leave for Melbourne on February 19, giving Gilas Pilipinas a less than three days to practice as a complete unit.
“We’ll only be complete when we get to Australia on the 20th. What else is new?” he lamented. “The mother teams have the final say on the players. So it’s great that there’s no more one player per team rule. But you know, the real question is how much practice can we get?”
“We have that luxury of having more than one player, but we don’t have practice times. It’s the same. That’s why we’re just making do with what we have, trying to make the most of the situation.”