Gilas wary of retooled Saudi Arabia

The Philippines’ masterful dismantling of Saudi Arabia last August will definitely serve as an inspiration for Gilas Pilipinas when the two sides battle again this Sunday (Monday midnight in Manila) for Window 5 of the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

But that’s all it is going to be for the Nationals: a source of motivation.

The hosts, who own a 2-5 (win-loss) card, will be taking the King Abdullah Sports City court a retooled bunch, prompting national coach Chot Reyes to tread warily into the game.

“New coach, new system, several new players with a completely new approach to the game, so we keep on telling the players that … as much it’s going to be technical, it’s [also] going to be mental,” he said.

Six of Saudi Arabia’s players trashed in an 84-46 rout by the Philippines at Mall of Asia Arena have been replaced. The Saudis are also coming off a resounding 84-54 victory over India and are expecting to perform well behind new ace Hazim Aljohar and the crowd supercharging them.

Reyes, meanwhile, feels his team has to work on three areas.“I think we had too many turnovers (the last game); 20 (errors) were a little too much,” he said.

“We could improve on free-throw shooting percentage, and there were several breakdowns defensively, especially in transition,” Reyes added. INQ