Chot Reyes: Gilas Pilipinas can make it to FIBA Asia semis

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Chot Reyes: Gilas Pilipinas can make it to FIBA Asia semis

Gilas Pilipinas National team head coach Chot Reyes believes Gilas Pilipinas has a strong chance to make it to the semi-finals of the FIBA Asia Championship 2013, which kicks off on August 1 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

“I think we have a very good chance of to make it to the semi-finals,” Reyes said in a press conference Tuesday. “Beyond that… the beauty and the unpredictability of the FIBA format is that any team can beat any team in a one-game situation.”

Reyes said the most important part for Gilas will be to make it to the quarterfinal round.

“The quarter-finals will be the most important matches. After that, it’s really anybody’s ball game,” Reyes said. “Some teams will be more favored than the other, but every team will have to bring its best.”

“If one team stumbles, they are going to get beat… It’s a very level playing field in the tournament,” he stressed.

In 2011, the Philippines finished in fourth place after bowing to South Korea in a heartbreaking third-place game.

Prior to this year’s tournament, the last time that a Reyes-coached national team participated in the FIBA Asia Championships was in 2007 in Japan, where they failed to make it out of the first round.

But Reyes points out that they were grouped with Jordan and Iran in the first round of that tournament, with only the top two teams advancing.

“This is easier, because three teams qualify. In Japan, only two teams qualify,” he said.

While the 2007 team also featured several talented players, the 2013 national team has naturalized player Marcus Douthit, who allows them to match up with the taller players of other national teams.

Reyes admits that even with Douthit and tall locals like Junemar Fajardo in the line-up, the Philippines still lacks the height of the other squads.

“We don’t have the height. Everybody knows that has been the Philippines’ deficiency from way back. We don’t have the time together as a team,” he said, listing the drawbacks of Gilas Pilipinas.

“But I think we have the skills, I think we have the desire to compete and to do our best, and I am sure we have the crowd support,” Reyes added. “Hopefully, those three things will tide us through.”

Gilas Pilipinas will begin their FIBA Asia campaign on August 1 against Saudi Arabia at the Mall of Asia Arena. ( FIBA Asia Championship 2013 Live Streaming clickhere )