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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Chot says 'it will take a village' to stop Towns

Chot says 'it will take a village' to stop Towns

Published Aug 24, 2023 06:05 pm

At A Glance

  • Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes said the team will get its hands full in just trying to contain Dominican Republic's NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns during their match at the Philippine Arena on Friday, Aug. 25.
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Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes said the team will get its hands full in just trying to contain Dominican Republic’s NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns during their match at the Philippine Arena on Friday, Aug. 25.

 

towns.jpg
Karl-Anthony Towns is expected to be the biggest thorn to the side of Gilas Pilipinas (FIBA photo)

Speaking before the members of the press, 24 hours before the highly anticipated showdown between Gilas and Dominican Republic, Reyes said it would actually take a village to limit a player of the Timberwolves center’s caliber.

“I don’t think it’s physically possible for any single person on our team and perhaps even the entire World Cup to stop Karl-Anthony Towns one-on-one,” said Reyes.

“It’s going to take a village to beat them, and to stop him, and the Dominican Republic. Because that’s not a one-man team that we will be playing tomorrow,” he added.

While admittedly, it will be a collective effort from all of Gilas players from the guards to big men to try and limit the touches of Towns, the burden of putting a body against the NBA All-Star when he gets into his scoring positions.

“The initial job is going to fall on the frontline. That’s how important they are going to be,” said Reyes.

Japeth Aguilar, Kai Sotto, AJ Edu and June Mar Fajardo will have the job to man the paint, not just against Towns but also against other NBA caliber players in Group A like Luigi Datome of Italy and Bruno Fernando of Angola.

“Having an inside presence is very, very important because every team we will face is going to have a strong tough inside guy and nobody is tougher than the big guy that we're playing in the first game,” said Reyes.

“That's going to be the role and the value of our frontline.”

 

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Dominican Republic 2023 FIBA World Cup
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