The past three FIBA windows have been tough for Chot Reyes’ roster formation.
During Gilas’ Araneta window campaign, Reyes did not have the amateur stars at his disposal as the UAAP second was ongoing. It resulted to him having a roster filled with TNT players sprinkled with B.League imports and Angelo Kouame.
(C) Paul Ryan Tan/FIBA Asia
For the third window, Reyes had collegiate stars and B.League players on the roster as the PBA Philippine Cup was ongoing.
Then in the recent window, Reyes had Kai Sotto and Jordan Clarkson leading a squad filled with a mixture of PBA and B.League imports. However, he did not have the best of the best of both San Miguel and TNT as the Finals were still ongoing.
All three windows netted 1-1 results for Gilas, resulting in a 3-3 slate in Group E.
Window 5 though will be a different beast for Gilas. The Nationals will play two road games, one in Amman against Jordan (November 10) and another one in Dammam against Saudi Arabia (November 13).
This time around, Clarkson won’t be available while Sotto is non-committal. Clarkson will be in Utah by then while Sotto is in Adelaide.
“Di ko pa alam kung kailan ‘yung next. Pero always naman tawaran ko, and gusto ko mag-laro para sa buong Pilipinas,” said Sotto.
Reyes though bared that during the SBP’s general meeting last July 1, the PBA and the UAAP have agreed that it will have a two-week break which will begin late October for the national team.
“We’ve already talked about it with the PBA. They are going to make players available just like the UAAP and NCAA.
“In the last general SBP meeting, they already said that the UAAP and NCAA, if necessary, call for a two-week break to accommodate the players that we may select. Same thing with the PBA,” said Reyes.
All the SBP is waiting for is for the schedules of the leagues to be released to formalize it.
“We are looking forward to it but nothing is set in stone yet. The realization of having these players together, getting them a little bit of practice time, that’s the plan”
