“Transformative” is how Dwight Ramos (left, photo above) describes the Gilas Pilipinas Europe training camp. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/ELVIS ZALDARIS.
Gilas Pilipinas enters the homestretch of its training camp across the Baltic states in Europe, and while Chot Reyes is pleased with the strides the program is making, the national coach feels that there’s a lot more polishing the team needs to be World Cup-ready.
“Little by little we’re seeing now their legs coming back, their conditioning as well. And for me, that’s the most fundamental of all fundamentals—stamina, and conditioning,” he said through a dispatch released by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas on Tuesday.
“And that’s actually why we’re doing everything we’re doing here: Extra work, the loading, the lifting. To precisely get them to that [fitness] level. But we’re still a long way off,” he went on.
“We are not programmed to be at the top level at this point. This is still part of the learning process—getting our feet under us.”
The Philippines, as of press time, have split their four tuneup games. The Nationals bowed to Estonia and Finland in their stop in Tallinn last week before tabbing back-to-back victories against Ukraine’s scrappy Under-20 squad in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas.
Gilas was set to battle a Lithuanian club selection late Tuesday (early Wednesday in Manila) for what is shaping up as its penultimate friendly contest in Europe.
One more game
Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/ELVIS ZALDARIS.
The Philippines will test its mettle against a European team one last time this Saturday before leaving Lithuania on Sunday.
The camp’s organizer told the Inquirer in a short chat that it is eyeing to pit Reyes and his charges against a team from the Lithuanian Students Basketball League, which should allow Ange Kouame to further partake in this leg of the preparations geared toward the global showcase set here on Aug. 25.
Kouame, who was present in the Manila phase of the buildup, was only able to rejoin the training pool in Europe as he attended his Ateneo graduation ceremony.
Dwight Ramos, whom Reyes anointed as a cornerstone of the program nearly two years ago, swears that the training camp in Estonia and Lithuania has been transformative.
“It’s a lot harder to guard. When you play certain teams, you just kind of guard one on one with a little bit of help,” he said of the experience.
“But when you play teams here in Europe, there’s just so much going on all over the court and it happens so fast that it tests your mind and fundamentals to make sure you know what you’re doing,” he went on.
The Gilas management has been mum on its plans after the camp in Europe. As things stand, only a pocket tournament in China just weeks before the World Cup, has been penciled for the Nationals.