Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes is very much pleased with the learnings the Nationals have achieved through their three-week trip in Europe in preparation for the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

Gilas Pilipinas huddles after the win over Lithuania University games representatives (SBP photo)

Reyes particularly pointed out the improvements on the team’s defense and players' conditioning after a total of six games in Estonia and Lithuania which saw the Nationals yield an even 3-3 record.

Gilas first dropped two close games against the national teams of Estonia and Finland in Tallinn before they moved on to Kaunas where they played four more games. 

The Nationals picked up two victories over the U22 team of Ukraine before splitting their last two games, losing to a Lithuanian select team and winning against Lithuania representatives to the World University Games.

“The defense that we had from game one to now game six is already night and day. So, all the work that we put in on perfecting our defense is starting to show,” said Reyes.

Gilas’ defense was indeed tested during the tuneup games, facing up against a variety of offensive threats from the opposing teams – from putting the clamps down on quick and youthful European guards to closing out big but sweet-shooting forwards and centers.

“Still, we all know there’s a lot of work to be done. We are still a work in progress but I must admit that I'm pretty satisfied with our game today,” he added following the team’s 125-102 victory over Lithuania’s Universiade team.

Both Gilas and the Lithuanian team agreed to play 12 minutes per quarter in the tuneup where the Nationals showed better conditioning despite playing shorthanded in the absence of Scottie Thompson, AJ Edu and Dwight Ramos.

“I think our conditioning, game conditioning level from game one to today (is better), remember in Game 1 Justin Brownlee even cramped up, today he was able to play 30 minutes,” said Reyes.

“Those are the things that we wanted to look at and we set as objectives on this trip.”