Andray Blatche was nowhere to be found during Gilas Pilipinas’ practice session on Saturday night at the Meralco Gym. But unlike in the past, the naturalized import has made things certain this time, as he is expected to come to the country tomorrow.
And with that, Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes — who had openly shared his displeasure towards the American last Tuesday due to the latter’s seemingly non-committal acts — has taken it easy towards the naturalized Filipino this time.
“It’s hard to answer. First of all, you got to make sure that he’s here. And second, it’s not that simple to make the decision because for all we know the SEABA still has to approve if we are going to make such move on that,” shared the veteran shot-caller about whether they are still open of replacing Blatche.
Blatche, who is coming off a championship stint with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association last March, is expected to arrive on Sunday, May 7, at 4:30 AM, as confirmed by team manager Butch Antonio.
But still, it does not change the fact that Gilas’ progress for the SEABA Championships, which will raise its curtains less than a week from now, has taken a massive hit due to Blatche’s no-shows.
“Less na nga lang and we aren’t still able to practice fully as a complete 12-man team,” admitted the 53-year-old tactician.
“Basta for us, we are focusing among ourselves, making sure we are ready as much as possible. We’ll see what happens.”
