Gilas shoots for win No. 4 vs Thais

Games Tuesday (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

3 p.m. – Myanmar vs Singapore

5 p.m. – Malaysia vs Vietnam

7 p.m. – Philippines vs Thailand

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas, a class of its own in Southeast Asian basketball, is determined to squeeze everything it can get from the 2017 SEABA Championship, and it is only expected to sustain its murderous run in taking on Thailand Tuesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Team Phl, the Dream Team in this side of the world, steamrolled Myanmar, 147-40, on Friday, bludgeoned Singapore, 113-66, on Saturday then ripped Malaysia, 106-51, Sunday in an overpowering three-game start in the FIBA sub-zone event.

But Gilas coach Chot Reyes insists they’re still in the process of putting things together.

They’re looking forward to their 7 p.m. tiff versus the Thais, a one-time SEABA champs, to help sharpen their weapons and polish the game that they want to be at its peak come the start of the FIBA Asia World Cup qualifying series in November.

“Offensively, there’s still a lot that we want to do that we’re not running well yet. But again this team is a work in progress. It will take time to put these things together,” said Reyes.

They’re looking for more improvement in their game against the Thais who, needless to say, will surely come out and try their best to upset the home team.

The 2013 SEABA champs must win their last two games against the Filipinos and the Singaporeans to have a shot at the championship. Their backs are now against the wall following a 59-60 upset by the Indons on Sunday.

Wutipong Dasom exploded for a tournament-high 40 points as the Thais bounced back from their loss to the Indons and rapped Myanmar, 102-35, last night.

In their rest day, the Filipinos still did their job, scouting the Thais in their game against the Burmese before going to a light workout.

“We’ve taken a look at them. We’ve got all the feedbacks and we’ll use these to get ready for them,” said Reyes. “We’ll concentrate on this game before thinking about the last two games.”

Gilas is really eager to maximize the workouts and experimentations that they can get in SEABA.

Notches up on Myanmar, Vietnam, Singapore and even on Malaysia in terms of skills and experience, the Thais could well give the Filipinos the harder push that they’re looking for.

But there’s surely no way that they can match up with the size, talent and firepower of Andray Blatche, June Mar Fajardo and their teammates.

And Gilas isn’t showing signs it would get complacent, relax and hold back.

Through three games, Gilas averaged 122 points while giving away only 52.3 an outing.

The Nationals hit at a 36-percent clip from beyond the arc and 86 percent from the stripe and 58 percent overall from the field.

With everyone getting their minutes, the Nationals enjoy a well-balanced scoring with Calvin Abueva being the top scorer with 15.7 a game and six others – Blatche, Fajardo, Matt Wright, RR Pogoy, Troy Rosario and Allein Malicsi – also having double-digit averages.

Jio Jalalon leads the team and the league in assists with 6.0 a game, followed by Terrence Romeo, Blatche and Jayson Castro.