There's always room for improvement.
Aside from being a smart tactician, Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes is also known as a resolute motivator.
To him, every day is a learning experience. Win or lose, a lopsided match or a nip-and-tuck affair, do-or-die or no bearing, the long-time mentor has always made sure that he and his players take something with them to accentuate their learning curve.
It was no different against Lebanon on Friday. Gilas Pilipinas steamrolled past the visitors with a convincing 107-96 win in the sixth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. While Reyes said he was satisfied with their outing, he pointed out one thing they could’ve done better.
“There’s still a lot left to be desired with our defense. We gave up almost a hundred points to a team without [Wael] Arakji, [Ali] Haidar, and even their naturalized player [Jonathan Alredge],” admitted Reyes after their fourth straight victory.
The 59-year-old drillmaster, who steered Gilas Pilipinas to the 2014 FIBA World Cup, was heavily chided last year at the height of the national team’s struggles. But despite their recent ascent, Reyes, sounding more pragmatic, acknowledged that they’ll always be a work in progress.
“This is always the case—some things to be happy about, some things to continue working on. [It’s a] learning experience for us,” said Reyes.
The learning experience continues on Monday when they take on Jordan to finish the tournament.