Ni Marivic Awitan

Gilas, gugulantangin ang mundo – Reyes.

Bagamat nakumpleto na rin sa kanilang ensayo ang kanyang koponan, nais ni Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes na magawa niyang isang buong unit ang mga ito bago tuluyang sumabak sa Beirut, Lebanon para sa Fiba Asia Cup sa Agosto 8.

“I really like what I’m seeing, but the problem is we don’t have that much time. We’re like cramming for the exams.

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We are trying to put everything in just one or two days and we all know on Wednesday and on Friday, there will be PBA games. So we are just taking advantage of what we have,” pahayag ng Gilas mentor.

Batid ni Reyes ang mga kakulangan ng kanyang team at ang mga kinakaharap nilang mga suliranin magmula sa pagkawala ng kanilang naturalized big man na si Andray Blatche, ng limitadong oras ng kanilang preparasyon para sa sasabakang torneo sampu ng pabago-bagong bilang sa attendance sa kanilang napakaikling panahon ng pag-i-ensayo.

Pero sa kabila ng lahat, nais manatiling positibo ni Reyes na ang mga pinagdaanan at pagdadanan pa nilang mga hamon at pagsubok ay magsisilbing “motivation” para sa kanyang koponan upang mag-overaachieve kontra sa kanilang mga katunggali.

“There’s a lot of people who are saying that we won’t go very far, especially with Andray Blatche not here. Everyone knows that Andray won’t be here. Everyone knows that we are not getting enough practices. All the other teams like China and Australia are playing tuneup games against each other. Qatar and Iraq are getting a lot of practice and tuneup games. “

“We are not getting even enough practice and we have already accepted the fact that we will not get enough practices but that has always been the case,”dagdag nito.

Dahil dito, gusto ni Reyes na maging higit na agresibo at kumbaga sa patalim ay mas matalas ang Gilas at itanim sa kanilang isipan na kaya nilang sorpresahin ang kanilang mga katunggali.

“We have to have the mentality of being brash and aggressive and the belief that we will shock the world. We are not going to enter the tournament as favorites, but we want to be able to shock them.”