Gilas players made good account of themselves vs Aussies, says Chot

MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes made it clear that he and his squad weren’t daydreaming as they took on the bigger and craftier Aussie squad.

 

Speaking in a streamed presser, Reyes said they "came into the game with eyes wide open."

 

"We had no illusions facing a very strong, tough Aussie team which is 10th in the world. All we wanted to do is to compete,” he said.

 

The Filipinos flashed their might in the first half of the game, but an erratic performance from the charity stripe went on to hound them in towards the second half of the tussle.

 

"We can’t complain on [our] effort. Our game could’ve been better but our effort is there. We thought at least we’ve accounted well for ourselves to compete against this Boomers squad,” Reyes said.

 

Gilas led by five in the game only to fall by double digits as the final buzzer sounded.

 

Reyes went on to add that thoughts of the Gilas’ second game bothered him.

 

"So as much as we want to go all out for the victory, we also had to make sure we’re managing minutes because we know we’re gonna need fresh legs when we play Japan,” he said.

 

"They’re just coming from Tokyo which is a three-hour flight as against ours… The good thing is we’ll be playing at home and we’re hoping to get adrenaline from home crowd to compensated for the fatigue this long fight is going to  cost us Sunday,” the veteran tactician added.

 

"But it’s hard coming to the  ballgames when you’re also thinking of the next game,” he closed.

 

Gilas, now 2-1 in the qualifiers, takes on a listless Japan side at the Mall of Asia Arena this Sunday.