Chot Reyes says Gilas’ tuneup loss to Lithuania ‘all part of the process’

Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/ELVIS ZALDARIS.

MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes is charging their setback to the Lithuanian selection squad in their latest friendly game to experience, putting a premium on defending a good-shooting team ahead of their Fiba World Cup 2023 campaign in August.

The Philippines absorbed a 90-80 loss to an eight-man Lithuanian team on Tuesday in Kaunas with forward Tomas Zdanavicius erupting for 25 points including a 6-of-7 three-point shooting.

“This was all part of the process. We wanted to play a team who has five shooters because we wanted to see how we could get June mar defending ball screens, pick n pops against shooters. JuneMar had 10 points in the first half and his man had 20 points, it’s something we need to work on,” said Reyes of June Mar Fajardo, who scored 13 points in the game.

“It’s now up to us to come into practice and figure out ways to defend when we have a situation like that when there’s a three-point shooting outside big man on the opposing team. Those are the things we wanted to learn. We knew that this is the kind of player that we were going to face, that June Mar is going to face. It’s not only June Mar, it has to be everyone helping out and rotating to stop that,” he added.

After losing three of their five tune-up games, Reyes said that the Gilas squad has to find balance on both ends.

“We have to find that balance where we are scoring well and defending well. Part of the process. Obviously, we’re not happy with the result but I am very satisfied with the learning and the lessons that we continue to pick up,” he said. “

Gilas big man June Mar Fajardo. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/ELVIS ZALDARIS.

“At the start, we had some good looks that were not falling. That’s why they were able to get an early run. But also this team did not really pressure hard on passing lanes. They defended in a different way, which is also one of the things that we need to learn how to attack teams that defend this way. Offense wasn’t  our problem in this ball game, it was really defense.”

The Gilas coach, who is set for his second World Cup appearance, also said he used a different combination with Japeth Aguilar as a power forward and Justin Brownlee as a small forward with Ange Kouame joining the team after his graduation at Ateneo.

But he believes that this kind of result will only make his team better.

“Obviously, it didn’t work because we got off to what 17-1 start. But the good thing is that’s part of why we’re here to figure out different combinations, different lineups and to know that there’s no nothing more powerful knowledge than experience,” he said. “So now that we have that first-hand experience the players should now all know better. That’s part of the learning process and the lessons that we came here to learn.”

Gilas Pilipinas will open its campaign against Angola on August 25 at Philippine Arena and it is slated in Group A with Dominican Republic and Italy.

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