Besides the returns of Christian Standhardinger, Troy Rosario, and Jayson Castro for Gilas Pilipinas’ game against Iran on Monday, Yeng Guiao unveiled another name on Saturday evening.
After the nationals’ late-night session inside the SM Mall of Asia Arena, Guiao shared that former PBA Most Valuable Player Arwind Santos is a shoo-in to make the line-up.
“Actually apat ang pumasok. Christian, Troy, Arwind, and Jayson. ‘Di ko muna sasabihin kung sino yung papalitan.”
This will mark the end of Santos’ nine-year absence from the national team. And Santos’ presence is much needed for Gilas, according to Guiao.
Last Friday, Kazakhstan exposed the lack of speed of Gilas’ bigs, which led to an 88-92 stunner. This was just the Philippines’ second home loss in the 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
“Yun nga ang sinasabi ko, na the tallest lineup doesn’t necessarily mean the strongest lineup.
“There is a speed factor, a quickness factor that we need to consider, because the big men that we face are big and they’re quick and strong. If you’re just big, it will not suffice. You have to be able to combine the size and the speed to match up,” shared Guiao.
With the addition of the 6-foot-4 Santos, 6-foot-7 Troy Rosario, and 6-foot-8 Christian Standhardinger, Guiao believes that they can now combine height and speed at the same time.
“Noong una kasi, meron tayong quickness with our big men, wala naman tayong size,” Guiao recalled, as players like Marc Pingris and Ranidel de Ocampo both had size and speed. “Ngayon, nagkaroon tayo ng siz. Pero as witnessed last night, kulang tayo sa quickness, so we have to balance it. We have to find maximum efficiency of size and quickness.
“We feel the people we put in – Christian has the quickness, Troy has the quickness, Arwind has the quickness, and then si Jayson. So yung quickness requirement namin, napunuan naman. Pero magsa-sacrifice ka ng size.”
Guiao is fielding this lineup even if there is no guarantee that Iranian big men Hamed Haddadi, Arsan Kazemi, and Nikkah Bahrami will return to Iran on Monday.
“Yun ang balita sa amin. Pero ang preparation namin is still with those guys.
“As I’ve said before, mas madali gawin yung adjustment kung wala sila. Kung pinaghandaan mo na wala sila tapos nandyan pala sila, that is a harder adjustment to make. We’re assuming they’re there, but tomorrow, we’ll know. We can just tweak the game plan kung wala sila,” he closed.
