Having to play two games in less than four days, in locations thousands of miles apart, has been the most challenging aspect of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers. And Gilas coach Chot Reyes seemingly succumbed to the stress.
The outspoken mentor admitted that he give his full attention to their Thursday clash with Australia in Melbourne, saying that he’s also concerned with their game on Sunday versus Japan in Manila.
“It’s hard coming to ballgames when you’re also thinking of the next game,” admitted Reyes after their 68-84 loss.
“As you all know, we have a long trip ahead of us to go back home and play Japan in two days. That was in the back of my mind the whole game.
“So as much as we want to go all-out for the victory, we also had to make sure we’re managing minutes because we know we’re gonna need fresh legs when we play Japan,” continued the veteran bench strategist.
However, even with the unwanted result, Reyes still gave credit to his wards, as he felt that they were able to play well against the Boomers. And that was evident in the first half, where they even took a 30-25 lead midway in the second.
“We came into this ballgame with eyes wide open. We had no illusions facing a very strong, tough Aussie team which is tenth in the world. All we wanted to do is to compete, and I felt we were able to do that,” he shared. “We competed hard.
“We can’t complain on [our] effort. Our game could’ve been better but our effort is there. We thought at least we’ve accounted well for ourselves to compete against this Boomers squad.”
Now, as Gilas flies back home, the multi-titled mentor hopes that the Filipino crowd will give them enough energy. Fans are expected to fill up the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday, February 25, as they take on the Akatsuki Five.
“The good thing is we’ll be playing at home and we’re hoping to get adrenaline from home crowd to compensate for the fatigue this long fight is going to cost us Sunday.”
