Gilas Pilipinas’ young towering towers AJ Edu and Kai Sotto. –FIBA BASKETBALL
MANILA, Philippines–Gilas Pilipinas will be flaunting a ferocious frontline in the Fiba World Cup this Friday—arguably the tallest ever in the nation’s basketball history.
But national coach Chot Reyes isn’t too fond of anchoring the team’s chances on the towering frontcourt that will feature Kai Sotto, AJ Edu, and two-time World Cup veterans June Mar Fajardo and Japeth Aguilar.
“I’ve learned in those nine years (coaching the national team), especially in this kind of competition to not to think about, not to worry about chances,” he told reporters in the pre-event press conference held at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, one of the Manila venues of the global showcase.
“[I]t doesn’t matter who you’re playing. Your chances are going to be difficult. The competition is so tough that you spend time thinking about your chances, it’s really not going to be very useful. So we’d rather focus on other things, other more productive things,” he said.
This edition of the Gilas frontline is superior in height with Sotto standing at 7’3″, Edu and Fajardo at 6’10”, and Aguilar at 6’9″. Together, they form an average of 6’11” which should give the program a kind of weapon they haven’t enjoyed in previous editions of the World Cup.
Reyes maintained it would be counterproductive to think about the team’s chances considering the caliber of the teams taking part in the near monthlong showcase.
“What our chances are, if you’re asking for a percentage or any kind of metric, is hard to say,” he said. “Just by the very nature of this competition being the World Cup, we already know how difficult it is [going to be].”
Reyes did eventually admit that he is cautiously optimistic about the campaign that will first run through the Dominican Republic on the opening night that will be held at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
“But yes, we like our chances because we are here,” he said. “But that’s how it is in life.”
“50 percent is about showing up and we’re all here—putting ourselves in a 50 percent position to succeed.”