So far, the tune-up games are serving its purpose.
The final stretch of Gilas Pilipinas’ buildup for the FIBA World Cup has started out pretty well.
In its first tune-up game in Europe, Gilas lost to Estonia by 10 points. The Philippine contingent then followed it up with a better effort, losing to Finland by only 4 markers, 89-85. Undeniably, the Filipino hoopers had a much-improved performance on Wednesday night in Tallinn against the Finns.
Gilas’ longtime mentor Chot Reyes talked to Carlo Pamintuan of One Sports and talked about his overall take on his squad’s showing versus the formidable Finnish side. First, he focused on the positives.
“Definite metrics as targets for this game, number 1 was to cut down our turnovers. We had 23 yesterday. And today, we were able to cut that down by 8,” Reyes stated.
Against the Estonians, one of Gilas’ biggest problems was its inability to take care of the ball. But against Finland, they were able to address the issue, and as a result, the Philippines’ assist-to-turnover ratio also saw improvement.
“We finished with 15 assists on 15 turnovers. So, at least, we were able to up our assist-turnover ratio to one is to one as against yesterday when it was a negative,” the veteran tactician explained.
Of course, Gilas still lost to Finland, which means Coach Chot and his wards still have a lot to work on. On top of the decorated Filipino strategist’s list of things to fix is rebounding.
“We got really beaten up on the boards. We got outrebounded by almost 20 boards, most of it on offensive rebounds. We gave up 26 offensive rebounds,” Reyes admitted.
“That’s really going to be a continuing cause for concern because of the size of all the teams that we are playing. So, that’s something that we need to continue to work on,” he added.
All in all, Gilas’ drillmaster was pleased with his team’s progression. According to Reyes, peaking at the right time is crucial and his charges are exactly where he wants them to be at the moment.
“It’s obvious that we’re still very far from being in any kind of competitive game shape but we’re not supposed to be in game shape yet at this point because we have to make sure that we peak at the right time,” Reyes stressed.
“We don’t want to peak too early and burn out in the end. So, that’s all part of the process, and I’m very happy. I’m very satisfied with the effort,” he added.