RP 5 will do the impossible, says Reyes

Coach Chot Reyes said the other day his mindset for the Philippine national basketball team, training at the Joe Abunassar impact camp in Carson City near Los Angeles, is to do the impossible in the gym now to prepare to do the impossible later.

For five months, the team will be getting battle-ready for the chance to play in the Beijing Olympics. The moment of truth will come in the FIBA-Asia Championships on July 28-Aug. 5 in Tokushima, Japan, where powerhouse China – assured of an Olympic ticket as host nation – is the defending titlist.

Reyes, assistant coach Aboy Castro, trainer Dennis Aenlle and 11 players left Thursday for a two-week camp personally supervised by Abunassar in Carson City. Abunassar is credited for developing the skills of stars like Kevin Garnett, Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince, Chris Duhon, Andrei Kirilenko and Sebastian Telfair.

The morning after arriving in the US, Reyes took the team to practice for two hours at the Home Depot Center. Two more hours of practice in the afternoon rounded out a grueling first day at camp.

"There was no way we should have gone as hard as we did after flying 12 hours and barely getting any sleep," said Reyes. "But all through the next five months, a lot of people are going to say we couldn’t or shouldn’t do a lot of things – we shouldn’t play in SEABA, we couldn’t win FIBA-Asia, we couldn’t beat China, we couldn’t get to the Olympics.

"That’s why on the first day of practice, I wanted to start doing things other people say we shouldn’t be doing. Let’s not wait until July to do the things people say we couldn’t do."

Reyes said beating China seems to be a mission impossible but he’s not resigned to it.

"We’ll never know until we try," he said. "We shouldn’t wait until July to start doing the impossible. We need to start now to do the impossible, even in little ways. Because when we start training our bodies and minds to do the impossible, to do the things we shouldn’t be doing today then we will be better prepared to do the impossible later."

Reyes said he’s impressed by the dedication and effort the players showed on the first day at camp. "I’m proud to be here with you," he told the players. "Great work. Get your rest and let’s come back and do even better tomorrow."

In the morning session, Reyes split the 11-man squad into guards and bigs. Jimmy Alapag, Jay-Jay Helterbrand, Mark Caguioa, RenRen Ritualo and Dondon Hontiveros began with performance movement training followed by a series of individual drills in shooting, footwork, balance and ballhandling. The big men – Asi Taulava, Ranidel de Ocampo, Mick Pennisi, Kerby Raymundo, Danny Seigle and Tony de la Cruz – hit the weights and did flexibility training. Then, the guards went to the weight room and the bigs went through the individual skills modules.

In the afternoon, the team did more shooting, ballhandling and footwork exercises then broke into 3-on-3 drills focusing on ballscreens, hand-off executions and reading the defense. Interspersed were agility drills and a lot of running.

"To say the day was exhausting is an understatement," said Reyes. "That’s why I championed their efforts at the end of the session."