On Monday evening, a massive crowd came out to support Gilas Pilipinas in their home game in the fourth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at SM Mall of Asia Arena.
However, they weren’t just there to see Jordan Clarkson and the rest of the team in action. The fans also made sure that their disappointment towards the program’s woes was felt as they hurled boos after boos at head coach Chot Reyes.
Being among the 19,829 fans in attendance, Gilas legend Marc Pingris witnessed how the crowd heckled his former mentor all throughout the game.
And for that, he immediately came to the defense of Reyes, whom he believes, only had to bear the consequences of not having sufficient time to practice as a team.
“Sa akin, nakita ko rin kanina, siyempre kahit papaano, nasasaktan ako,” he admitted moments after Gilas’ 84-46 victory. “Sorry sa mga fans, kasi kailangan niyong malaman ‘to. Ang hirap maging isang coach, mahirap lalo na kung hindi niya makuha ‘yung time or ‘yung practice or ‘yung mga gusto niyang kuning mga player.
“Kahit sinong ilagay mong coach dito, sasabihin ko na sa inyo, kahit si Coach Tab [Baldwin] ilagay niyo dito, pero one week practice lang, hindi nila kayang mag-champion o manalo. Ang ano talaga dito, ang buhay diyan, coach tapos player, kailangan mag-gel talaga sila.”
Many would argue that the 2013-14 Gilas remains to be the “best team” that the country has ever fielded in the global stage to this day. The Chot Reyes-led squad succeeded in securing a second-place finish in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship along with an appearance in the 2014 FIBA World Cup after a 36-year absence.
The achievements of that group will definitely be hard to surpass but Pingris expressed his confidence in the abilities of the current batch of players being led by Jordan Clarkson and Kai Sotto.
“Itong lineup na ‘to, napakabigat, promise, kasi andiyan rin si Jordan,” he claimed. “Malaking bagay siya sa team. Malakas yung team na ‘to pero siguro sa akin, kagaya ng ginawa sa amin before, two months kami nag-practice kaya amoy na amoy namin yung isa’t isa. Itong lineup na ‘to, malakas ‘to, promise, kasi andiyan pa si Kai, kailangan [siya] tapos pinagsabay kay Japeth.”
However, Pingris stressed that the amount of talent that this team has will only be put in vain if they fail to develop their overall chemistry as a collective unit.
“Ang lalaki nitong lineup na ‘to compared sa lineup namin dati pero ‘yun ang sasabihin ko ulit, kailangan nila ng chemistry.
“Sa akin naman, lahat ng lineup natin is the best, di ba? Sa tingin ko naman, yes, kaya nilang lampasan ‘yun, basta sama-sama lang sila, tulong-tulong lang sila,” he added.
“And like what I said kanina, ‘yung chemistry, ‘yun ang importante para mas malayo pa ang marating nila. Sa akin, kahit sinong ilagay mo diyan, kahit sinong NBA player or PBA player, kahit sinong malakas diyan, kung wala silang chemistry, wala rin silang mapupuntahan. So para sa akin, yun ang importante. ‘Yung pagsasama nila, mas matagal pa,” he opined.
At the end of the day, Pingris is still a Gilas lifer and he will always be there to support the national team regardless of the circumstances.
At the same time, he also urges his countrymen to do the same and support the team in unity, especially as they gear up to compete in the upcoming World Cup next year.
“Para sa akin, suportahan na lang natin ang Gilas,” the pride of Pozorrubio, Pangasinan continued. “Itong mga ‘to naman, mga player natin, mga coach natin, binibigay naman nila yung best nila para sa bansa natin, hindi para sa mga sarili nila. Kahit sino ilagay mo diyan, naglalaro ‘yan para sa bayan.
“Sana tulungan na lang natin or suportahan pa rin natin sila. Win or lose, kailangan andiyan pa rin ‘yung puso natin na mahalin ‘yung national team natin.”
