May 24, 2016
Countdown to Manila OQT: 43 days
Wing man Marcio Lassiter returned to Gilas Pilipinas practice on Tuesday, more than two weeks after taking a break to recuperate from injuries.
Though still not at a hundred percent, Lassiter said what is important is to take advantage of the time together as a unit. Personally, he seeks a more competitive form, and he is confident he will reach such level as the days pass by.
“It feels good to be back on the court. We are just figuring it all out. I guess I had two and a half weeks (off) before getting back. I’ll just try to get it all together, get my conditioning back,” Lassiter said.
“I think in due time, the more we play, the more learning, the more we get into it, the more we will figure it out.”
Lassiter said since almost all Gilas members are professional players and are mature enough, it will not be a difficult adjustment when it comes to getting accustomed to the system again.
“I am still familiar with most of the plays. (The team) added a few more so I will just try to learn,” he said. “Everything is different. Each Gilas that we had are all different. Each one is a learning process.”
“This one, we’re professionals. We will just try to figure out how we can all gel right now with the time we have so we can compete and bring home what we need to bring home.”
Lassiter added with more players participating in Gilas practices nowadays, the team can focus on building its chemistry even more.
“I think as a team, we run together as a whole. We still have Andray. He is a big part of us. For now, we have most of the players here so we try to give as much as we can and maximize the time that we have for chemistry,” the guslinger shared.
As for his injury, Lassiter said he looks forward to feeling better.
“I am just managing it and trying not to overdo it. I just know it is not the way it should be. We will get there,” he closed.
