Gilas walang panahon sa bakasyon, pokus sa ensayo

MANILA, Philippines - Walang baka-bakasyon para sa Gilas Pilipinas sa Miami sa kanilang paghahanda para sa FIBA World Cup sa Spain sa pagsa­ilalim sa mga twice-a-day practices at maski si naturalized player Andray Blatche ay tumira sa Marriott Marquis Hotel para makasama ang  teamma­tes imbes na umuwi sa kan­yang bahay matapos ang bawat workouts.

Umalis ang Gilas de­le­­gation sa Manila noong Biyernes ng gabi patu­ngong Miami kung saan pinamamahalaan ni coach Chot Reyes ang isang 11-day boot camp.

Nakasama ni Reyes sina assistants Joseph Uichico at Josh Reyes, conditioning coach Dexter Aseron at team manager Aboy Castro at sina pla­yers Jimmy Alapag, Jayson Castro, Ranidel de Ocampo, Marc Pingris, Gabe Norwood, Jeff Chan, June Mar Fajardo, L. A. Tenorio, Japeth Aguilar, Gary David, Marcus Douthit, Beau Belga, Paul Lee, Jay Washington at Jared Dillinger.

Sinamahan sila sa Mia­mi ni Blatche at dating New Zealand national team coach Tab Baldwin na tata­yong consultant ng Gilas.

“Everybody is here,” sabi ni Castro mula sa Mia­mi. “Andray did everything that the players did.  We had one practice (noong Sa­bado). We split it up into two groups, one lifting weights and the other, shooting. Chot wanted to get a lot of repetitions so that was the best way of doing it.  Then, towards the end, we ran our offense to give Andray a first look at it.  He’ll need a lot of reps to be able to master it.  Obviously, he’s far from mastering it but at least, we’re on the way.”

Ang 28-anyos na si Blatche ay nasa inisyal na lis­tahan ng mga players para sa FIBA World Cup kasama si Douthit.

Ngunit kapag pinutol ni Reyes ang koponan sa final 12-man roster, isang naturalized player lamang ang kanyang ibibilang base sa patakaran ng FIBA.

Isa lamang kina Blatche at Douthit ang maibibilang sa ultimate lineup.

Dumating si Blatche, ang tahanan ay nasa Mia­mi, sa training camp ka­sa­ma ang kanyang “little brother” na si Bryan Extra.

“Andray said it was great finally working out with the guys,” ani Castro.