ALLAN THE MAN

Philippine national men’s basketball coach Chot Reyes was back in the country on Thursday morning after a scouting trip to the FIBA Africa Championship in the Ivory Coast.

And even though he went into the trip thinking he would have a low profile, the brains behind Gilas Pilipinas was surprised to find out that he was well-known among officials in the tournament because of the Philippines’ hosting of the FIBA Asia Championship earlier this month.

“They’re using the Philippines as a role model. Legend tayo roon sa mga FIBA officials. Ibang klase raw talaga how the event was hosted, the atmosphere inside the venue and how we were able to put up a world class coverage,” said Reyes.

The situation was a far cry from the FIBA Africa tournament, which featured games in an old arena that did not have air conditioning. The capacity of the Palais des Sports de Treichville, where the games are held, is listed at 7,000.

The African tournament is down to its final four teams, featuring Ivory Coast versus powerhouse Angola and Egypt versus Senegal.

The competition has been so fierce and balanced that two traditional contenders, Nigeria and Tunisia, have been eliminated.

“Mahihirapan tayo sa lahat ng teams na naglalaro doon,” said Reyes.

“They have everything – big guys who can impose their will inside, pesky guards and big slashers. Halos wala lang sila shooters. But they’re bigger and stronger and a real matchup problem for us,” said Reyes.

“Their style of play is to pound it inside because there are a lot of big players playing there.”

Reyes noted that there are barely any naturalized players in the lineups of the teams.

“Almost all of the players are homegrown,” he said. “Hindi nila kailangan ng naturalized.”

Apart from scouting the opposition, the trip also gave Reyes an opportunity to network with fellow coaches, with the hope of arranging tuneup matches for Gilas Pilipinas in the future.

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