MANILA, Philippines — “Obviously ang sakit sa mata.”
That was Chot Reyes’ assessment on how Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas fared against the NLEX-SCTEX team after their tuneup game at the Meralco Gym on Saturday night.
The national team survived a furious run by the NLEX-SCTEX squad. Though his crew won the scrimmage, 95-83, Reyes could not help but mention that the rigors of putting together a cohesive unit is getting in the way.
"The players still don't know the system and they still don't know each other and that's very, very difficult,” he said. “We had a nice 15-16 point lead but we had to put the other guys who were trying out.”
Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas will be competing in the club tournament FIBA Asia Champions Cup in Chenzhou, China, this September 23.
Asked for an update on the team's personnel woes, the longtime Gilas mentor said that he’s still on a wait-and-see mode.
“Still waiting,” Reyes said of a timeline on when he will be able to finalize. “Kaya hindi kami makapag-practice nang todo because we’re still trying to fit in the guys trying out.”
But despite the peculiar spot they’re in, there are still a couple of bright spots from the scrimmage for Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas.
Rod Ebondo, a candidate for one of the team's two reinforcement spots, led the team with 26 points, reinforcing his bid to take the place Bright Akhuetie. Naturalization candidate Isiah Austin and unheralded Jett Manuel chimed in 13 points each.
"We'll rely sa ating abilidad — parang ginawa natin sa FIBA Asia 'di ba?” Reyes offered. "Baka ganun din 'yung situation dito. I just need to make sure the players are ready and willing to fight.”