Ever since he returned to the Gilas Pilipinas head coaching post at the start of the year, Chot Reyes has had a huge target on his back after he came in to replace Tab Baldwin.
In 14 games this year, the current TnT Katropa mentor has lost six matches – including the finals of the 31st Southeast Asian Games against Indonesia.
As the figurehead of the fans’ frustrations, Reyes was subjected to loud boos when his name was first announced and whenever his face flashed on the big screen.
These affected players on the court and provided an interesting side note to what became a lopsided 84-46 victory for Gilas.
“Thank you for coming out supporting (us) but if you’re gonna support us, I would appreciate it you guys just not booing our coach,” said Gilas standout cager Dwight Ramos, who produced a statline of nine points, six assists, and two assists in 24:09 minutes of action. “We’re all together as one so I really didn’t appreciate that. It wasn’t a good way for us to start the game.
“If you guys are going to support us, support all of us. We’re one team.”
If Ramos struck a diplomatic tone, Jordan Clarkson went further and hit out at the people inside the SM Mall of Asia Arena who expressed their disgust at Reyes during the game.
This was the first time the Utah Jazz star played on home soil and it is safe to say that the reception his coach got stunned him at the very least.
“I mean he is part of us, he is one of us. You hear the boos from the crowd or whatever is going on. I’m not here throughout the years so I don’t really know what’s going on,” said the 6-foot-4 Florida native. “But what I’ve seen over the last days, there’s some kind of bs. But yeah, he’s our coach, he’s one of us. He works hard. He puts all this together.
“From what I am hearing, he walked away from the game and he came back. He ain’t got to deal with this shit, he ain’t got to deal with the boos, he ain’t got to deal with the threats given to his family,” the former NBA Sixth Man of the Year continued as Reyes retired from coaching after being slapped with a fine by FIBA for his role in the Gilas-Boomers brawl back in 2018.
“He is coming back to this game because he loves the country, he loves this team.”
Reyes has been with the national team setup for so long already.
The Ateneo de Manila University alumnus led the country to the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain – the nation’s first World Cup in decades – by virtue of sealing second place in the 2013 FIBA Asia Cup on home soil.
The former Purefoods mentor also worked tirelessly to bring in players to the program – one of which is Clarkson, who feels he has a debt of gratitude to repay to the 59-year-old Quezon City native.
“Each and every one of us, to be honest with you, coach was the first person to talk to me 10 years ago when I was just going into college. Just being here, sitting next to him, this is what we envisioned, honestly, this has all been a blessing,” said eight-year NBA pro.
“For somebody to get rocks thrown at him for putting all this together, me and Kai, his dream and vision coming back to the game, is bs.”
With the 2023 FIBA World Cup on the horizon – unless something dramatic happens again, Reyes will be the one who will lead the country against the best international teams in the globe.
That is something a lot of fans cannot accept but he has the support of two key players who will presumably lead the country in that tournament.
“We all should support him and support what he got going on because in this next World Cup, whatever he got, we got to have each other’s back and support each other. That’s all I got to say about that,” said Clarkson.
“I’m here with that coach and I know everybody in that locker room is. From up top, MVP [Manny V. Pangilinan] and everyone, I know people did not appreciate that. Moving forward, I think we need to change our actions and show love out there.”
