Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 22) — Gilas Pilipinas is seeking tough competition in their slated friendlies in Europe to shape them up before they step on the FIBA World Cup board in August.
Gilas head coach Chot Reyes said facing national teams from Estonia, Finland and Norway as well as a few pro club teams is an essential part of the team’s build up.
“We wanted to get really tough competition. Alam ko mahihirapan tayo ng husto doon. Ang term namin diyan magpapabugbog muna tayo, because we feel that it’s part of the build up,” Reyes told CNN Philippines’ Sports Desk on Wednesday.
[Translation: We wanted to get really tough competition. We know we would have a difficult time there. Our term for this is we want to be beat up first, because we feel that it’s part of the build up.]
Reyes said the team is first set for pocket tournaments with Estonia and Finland before they travel to Lithuania to face Norway and join three to four games against pro club teams in the region.
Finland will also be competing in the World Cup in August, under Group E with Germany, Australia, and Japan.
Reyes said they chose to play with teams in Estonia and Lithuania to prepare for their first batch of World Cup opponents Angola, Dominican Republic, and Italy.
“We wanted to get a feel for European competition because kakalabanin natin (we will compete with) Italy come World Cup time,” Reyes said.
The tactician said the friendlies set with Senegal in China by August will prepare them for the match with Angola while the team is also eyeing a tune-up versus Puerto Rico to prepare Gilas against Dominican Republic.
‘Far from competitive game shape’
After gaining ground in their training camp in Calamba, Laguna, Reyes said the Filipino cagers are still a work in progress in terms of getting into their game shape.
\”I just want to manage everyone’s expectations. We are a work in progress. We’re still very far from any kind of competitive shape and that’s why we are going to this Lithuania camp,\” he said.
Reyes said players coming from injuries—like San Miguel Beermen’s June Mar Fajardo who suffered an MCL injury, and big man Japeth Aguilar who had a knee injury—are already joining full contact practice. Progress, Reyes added, is worth noting.
Young center AJ Edu, however, has yet to join full contact training and is still recovering from his ACL injury.
Reyes also said he aims to build the teams’ chemistry, resilience, and adversity quotient through the upcoming tune-up matches and pocket tournaments.
