Up to this day, former Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes cannot help but feel bad for the Gilas Pilipinas team that competed in the 2014 Asian Games.
“This was not the group of players who are supposed to play in the Asian Games, because we knew that gulping-gulpi na sila from the Worlds,” Reyes told Coaches Unfiltered, presented by SMART Sports and supported by Mighty Sports and Choi Garden.
And the Gilas team turned up bruised and battered.
Even before the World Cup, that team had been all over the world, setting up training camps in Miami and France before figuring in tune-ups in Guadalajara and San Sebastian, Spain.
Then from August 30 to September 4, they competed against Croatia, Greece, Argentina, Puerto Rico, and Senegal.
Fifteen days later, Jimmy Alapag, LA Tenorio, Jeff Chan, Gary David, Ranidel de Ocampo, Gabe Norwood, June Mar Fajardo, Paul Lee, Japeth Aguilar, and Marc Pingris went from Seville to Incheon to compete in the Asian Games.
Reyes did not want that group to be the once competing in the continental meet. But there are things beyond his and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas’ control.
“We had a fantastic list. We had Jordan Clarkson, Stephen Holt, [Mo] Tautuaa, [Christian] Standhardinger — we had a fantastic lineup. ‘Yung point guards sila [Maverick] Ahanmisi, [Jason] Brickman at [Stanley] Pringle… We had all of those guys and that’s on our board. That was a fantastic list we put together because ang rule non sa Asian Games, pwede lahat.”
Back then, Clarkson was just drafted as the 46th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, while Pringle just led the Indonesia Warriors to the ABL Championship. Standhardinger was just signed by Mitteldeutscher BC.
On the other hand, Tautuaa just ended his stint with Westports Malaysia Dragons; Holt and Ahanmisi just graduated from Saint Mary’s and Minessota respectively; and Brickman just joined Dynamo Moscow.
In just a snap however, those plans were scrapped. The Korea Asian Games Association had suddenly decided to adopt FIBA rules for their hosting.
“But then after we arrived, after the World Championships, we came back here and we got the word na hindi pwede, Korea is going to impose the FIBA Asia rules.”
Jayson Castro was also replaced by Jared Dillinger as he had a nagging injury.
Still, Reyes was confident.
“We said, ‘Okay fine. For as long as we have Andray [Blatche], we’ll still be competitive in the Asian Games'”
But Blatche was also banned by KAGA because of a “rule” that he has not served a three-year residency in the Philippines.
Marcus Douthit, who had not played a competitive game in two months, ended up called back to duty.
“I’m not making excuses, but we have to suddenly activate Marcus out of reserve status. Ang tagal ng hindi naglalaro ni Marcus nun,” lamented Reyes.
Despite a tired team with an out-of-shape naturalized player, Gilas still managed to finish in seventh place in the continental meet.
However, it was not the finish “fans” wanted, since they expected the Philippines to dominate after a gallant stand in the World Cup. And Reyes suffered the brunt of their ire.
“As you know, ganon naman talaga dito sa atin sa Pilipinas. ‘Pag panalo ‘yung team galing ng players, ‘pag natalo ‘yung team tanga ng coach. It’s always the coaches’ fault. That’s our job.
“Coaches are hired to be fired so we understand that. That’s part of our job. To the coaches listening, we all have to accept that. That comes with the territory. If you can’t accept that, then this is not the industry for you. Because I believe you have to stand for something, and if you have to stand for something, then people are not going to agree with you. If you don’t stand for something, you’re going to fall for anything, so I stand for some principles and one of our most sacred principles in the national team is walang iwanan,” he stressed.
