Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes and Tim Cone want the team to raise their level of play for the FIBA World Cup and avoid the mistakes they committed during the recent Heyuan WUS International Basketball Tournament.
Reyes noticed that the nationals tend to relax whenever they get a comfortable lead against opposing teams.
“Ang hirap kasi ‘pag maganda ‘yung tinatakbo natin, bumiitaw ng tayo konti, we lose the momentum; the momentum shifts to the other team. Ngayon gusto na nating seryosohin,” said Reyes in a post by Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.
“That’s not a switch that we can just turn on and off.”
Deputy coach Cone shared Reyes’ sentiment.
“It kind of gives us a feeling that we can just do anything that we want. We lost totally our discipline both offensively and defensively; we can’t afford that,” he said.
“That’s what a typical team would do, and we need special in what we’re gonna do. Understand that every possession counts, and we can’t take our opponents lightly. That’s what’s gonna take in the World Cup.”
Reyes pointed out the specific mistakes that the nationals committed in their final game against Iran.
“It’s carelessness and bad decision-making on our part. We cannot afford those. Our margin of error is very small, very small margin of error,” he said.
“We really have to be on point every single moment we’re inside. Even if we play our best, baka ‘yon hindi pa ‘rin enough [to win], eh? Pero sigurado, if we do not play our best, we have no chance,” he continued.
“Let’s give ourselves a chance. Let’s go there and play our best.”
Gilas concluded their overseas training in China with a 3-1 record, defeating Iran twice and Senegal once.
See Related Story:
Clarkson: Gilas Pilipinas has ‘good chance’ to win games in FIBA World Cup
