The 2017 Southeast Asian Games are exactly a week away. And for Gilas Pilipinas, the grind does not stop heading into the biennial meet, as they faced the Far Eastern University Tamaraws in another tune-up match on Saturday.
The friendly was far from the one they had last Tuesday, where they had to buck a comeback attempt by the Ateneo Blue Eagles, 86-79. This time around, they made easy work of the Tamaraws, 95-66, all thanks to their balanced effort.
And with that, coach Jong Uichico was left impressed as he saw his team respond to his challenge.
“Today, we improved, not necessarily because we won, but generally we improved. We had more rhythm,” said the veteran tactician after the match at the Upper Deck Sports Center in Pasig City. “We knew what we were doing already.
“We just [have to] take care of the little things, the details na lang.”
Asked if the blowout victory is an indication of what fans will see in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the multi-titled coach was quick to downplay such talk, saying that the team had simply played well against the Morayta-based cagers in the friendly.
“No. It’s not any indication of what’s in store for the SEA Games,” said the former TNT Katropa head coach.
“It’s not in any way an indication. We just played well today.”
And with that, the Nationals will still be putting in the work in the coming days. They will return to practice on Monday all the way until Thursday, maximizing the time they have left to fully grasp the system.
“We’re improving naman day to day. That’s why we have two more scrimmage games para ma-fast track lang yung pagkuha nila ng sistema,” said Uichico.
“It makes the process not ideal, but easier.”
