As Gilas Pilipinas’ practice session wrapped up on Thursday night at the Meralco Gym in Pasig, players and coaches alike were having fun, especially during their post-practice routine: half-court shooting contest.
Everybody was in a festive mood. But moments earlier, the facility had been filled with intensity.
Head coach Chot Reyes ran a scrimmage that pitted the FIBA Asia Cup team versus the SEA Games team. It was expected that the more veteran side would teach their younger counterparts a lesson, but it did not happen.
Instead, the SEA Games squad, led by Kiefer Ravena, gave their elders a run for their money. But at the end, the FIBA Asia team still reigned victorious, all thanks to the game-saving free throw by lanky center Raymond Almazan.
“As you can see, the FIBA-Asia team, sa SEA Games team nahihirapan eh ‘di ba,” said the 54-year-old mentor after the practice.
“Can you imagine if that’s China? But like I always keep saying, we gotta work with what we have.”
And with that, the multi-titled tactician admitted that his Beirut, Lebanon-bound squad is still far from their competitive shape, despite the continental meet being just days away. But the team is doing everything by working on it.
“As you can see, we’re very far from being in competitive shape,” said Reyes. “So all we can do is really make the best of what we have and have fun like this kasi there’s just so much we can do. We’ll just try our best.
“The best we can do is just focus on the things that we can control.”
