Chot Reyes talks about FIBA-Asia at SCOOP
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 11 May 2013
MANILA (PNA) -- A team that possesses just enough ceiling, a lot of speed and flexibility and an abundance of outside shots is what national coach Chot Reyes wants the soon-to-be formed Gilas-Filipinas to be in carrying the country?s colors in the coming FIBA-Asia Championship the Philippines is hosting three months from now.
?Our main opponents like China, Iran, Lebanon and Qatar are, no doubt taller than us, so we?ll just have to approximate their advantage in the department,? Reyes explained during yesterday?s SCOOP Sa Kamayan Session at the Kamayan Restaurant-Padre Faura. ?But, surely, speed, flexibility and outside shooting are areas we can be at par with them and that?s where we plan to concentrate in the very short time left to form the team.?
?Our target is a modest third place finish to advance to the world championship set next year in Spain,? the 49-year-old mentor of Team Philippines squad that ended up ninth in the 2007 Asian championship said. ?Winning the championship though is our dream.?
?As the saying goes, wala namang bayad ang mangarap, di ba? So mangangarap din kami to bring home the bacon this back shore as our predecessors did several times before,? he philosophized. We are hosting this event for the first time in 40 years and third since giving birth to it 53 years ago. It?s just but proper that we aspire to win the title.?
The former Talk ?N Text coach in the PBA was referring to the inaugural tournament in 1960 in Manila and the 1973 edition, both held in Manila where the Filipino cagers dominated their Asian counterparts.
Reyes, likewise, reaffirmed his statement made earlier that despite reducing his 17-man list of candidates to only 15 because of separate injuries suffered by Kelly Williams and Jared Dillinger, there is no plan to replace them with the likes of reigning PBA MVP Mark Caguioa of Barangay Ginebera, two-time best player James Yap of San Mig Coffee and and/or Arwind Santos of Petron.
?Mark and James are both injured and did not even play in the All-Star Weekend so how can they be replacements to similarly injured Williams and Dillinger? Reyes asked. ?I like Arwind, but he was not recommended by his mother team.?
Reyes though doesn?t completely discount the possibility of a change in personnel which could happen should injuries hit the present lineup during and after the Jones Cup tournament.
?If that happens, makikiusap na ako sa PBA teams na magpahiram ng additional players. But until such time, this present lineup remains,? Reyes said in reference to Jayson Castro, Jimmy Alapag, Larry Fonacier, Ryan Reyes and Ranidel de Ocampo, all of Talk ?N Text; Jeff Chan,and Gabe Norwood of Rain or Shine, Marc Pingris of San Mig Coffee; Gary David and Japeth Aguilar of Red Bull Barako; LA Tenorioi of Ginebra, June Mar Fajardo of Alaska Milk, Sonny Thoss and naturalized player Marcus Douthit.
To end up at least in the top three, Reyes said the Nationals must crack the walls that are the perennial top four in the biennial event ? the Chinese, the Iranians, the Lebanese and the Qataris.
?Our main concern is to make it to the semifinal round. If we can get to the Final Four, then magsisimula na tayong mangarap na manalo ng kampeonato,? he said in a statement shared by team manager Butch Antonio and players Gary David and Japeth Aguilar who accompanied Reyes to the public service forum, sponsored by AKTV and FILA.
All four believe though that time is catching up on the Gilas-Filipinas team as far as preparations is concerned.
?Up to this time, since we named the initial 17 candidates, we were able to get together twice and that was during last weekend?s All-Star Game and early this week during the Shanghai Sharks-Philippine goodwill series,? the national mentor lamented. ?We will actually start serious training after the on-going PBA Commissioner?s Cup final on May 25. That leaves us merely 67 days to really put our hearts out in preparations, that?s a very short period to prepare,?
Reyes and Antonio expressed hope though to make up for that in a two-week training camp in Lithuania where the Nationals are also scheduled to play a six-game exhibition series, possibly with the Lihtuanian national squad and a stint in the Jones Cup in Taipei July 6-14.
?We really need to play as many games as needed,? Antonio said. ?As coach Chot said before dapat mga 100 games man lamang. But due to unavoidable circumstances, that can?t be realized. Me mga invitations kami from some Asian countries like japan, pero mukhang imposible na ngayon.
Even the planned pocket tournament as well as the team?s provincial trips have been held in abeyance.
Aguilar and David expressed honored having been chosen into the national pool, both vowing to sacrifice their times, efforts to help the team achieved its goal.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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