Gilas eyes bounce back, semis spot against Singapore
Published May 13, 2023 02:25 am
Gilas Pilipinas is expected to bounce back as it eyes a spot in the semifinals when it takes on Singapore in the men’s 5-on-5 basketball competitions in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games at the Elephant Hall 2 at the Morodok Techo National Stadium on Saturday, May 13.
Tip-off of the clash is at 2 p.m. with the Filipinos aiming at finishing second in the Group A standing to advance to the semifinals of the tournament where they could face either Thailand or defending champion Indonesia. Admittedly disappointed with the loss to the home team, Gilas head coach Chot Reyes is putting the game aside as the Nationals try to move forward and improve at almost every aspect of their game after being outgunned and outhustled by the Cambodians in its 79-68 loss. “It’s something that we can learn from and move on. We go to the next game and then prepare for the knockout semifinals,” said Reyes. Refusing to make any excuses especially after Gilas’ flat start, Reyes still felt that the team couldn’t fully capitalize its speed advantage over its opponents, with players getting into some awkward slips that could result in injuries due to the venue flooring. “We can’t get to our spots quicker. That’s why we couldn’t take advantage of our quickness too much,” said Reyes. “The first thing we told them is we need to accept the conditions. But if somebody like Chris (Newsome) falls like that, hindi mo maiwasan ‘yun. Like I said, we are playing under the same conditions. But if they are the bigger team, of course, mas lamang ‘yung mas malaki because we rely on our quickness,” said Reyes.
*Gilas Pilipinas hopes to regroup and bounce back against Singapore (
**Ariya Kurniawan \| @ariyakurniawan16 on IG\)
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Tip-off of the clash is at 2 p.m. with the Filipinos aiming at finishing second in the Group A standing to advance to the semifinals of the tournament where they could face either Thailand or defending champion Indonesia. Admittedly disappointed with the loss to the home team, Gilas head coach Chot Reyes is putting the game aside as the Nationals try to move forward and improve at almost every aspect of their game after being outgunned and outhustled by the Cambodians in its 79-68 loss. “It’s something that we can learn from and move on. We go to the next game and then prepare for the knockout semifinals,” said Reyes. Refusing to make any excuses especially after Gilas’ flat start, Reyes still felt that the team couldn’t fully capitalize its speed advantage over its opponents, with players getting into some awkward slips that could result in injuries due to the venue flooring. “We can’t get to our spots quicker. That’s why we couldn’t take advantage of our quickness too much,” said Reyes. “The first thing we told them is we need to accept the conditions. But if somebody like Chris (Newsome) falls like that, hindi mo maiwasan ‘yun. Like I said, we are playing under the same conditions. But if they are the bigger team, of course, mas lamang ‘yung mas malaki because we rely on our quickness,” said Reyes.