Dwight Ramos (proper) performed an important function because the Philippines knocked down Jordan in a street sport. —FIBA
Nationwide coach Chot Reyes swore that familiarity could be a consider getting the nationwide pool to indicate its value within the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
At midnight on Friday, in opposition to a darkhorse of an opponent enjoying at residence and with out an NBA famous person capturing the lights out, Gilas Pilipinas validated that declare.
“I think number one was familiarity,” Reyes mentioned after the Philippines rolled previous Jordan, 74-66, at Prince Hamza Corridor in Amman, Jordan. “It’s not the first time that we’ve come together.”
“Yes, there were new faces we wanted to assimilate, but by and large, these guys already had some shared experiences–specifically the trip to Beirut (last August) and then our [visits to the] Dead Sea and (Al-Maghtas) a day before yesterday were pretty important also, because, again, extra shared experience.”
Certainly, this model of Gilas Pilipinas has seen motion for Reyes already and its standouts are beginning to get a really feel of what it takes to play for the nationwide workforce.
Take, for example, Scottie Thompson.
The 6-foot-1 do-everything Barangay Ginebra guard and PBA Most Invaluable Participant hadn’t actually scratched his potential as a nationwide workforce standout till flexing his muscle on the Jordanian capital, the place the nation opened its persevering with Group E marketing campaign.
“I thought his first game (back), the one against Lebanon, Scottie was still feeling his way around,” Reyes mentioned. “Slowly, we’re really seeing what he can do from that position.”
Thompson made performs and pulled down rebounds in opposition to Jordan’s seasoned bigs Ahmad Al Dwairi and Muhammad Hussein, who’re each 6-11.
Chat with Cone
After which there was Kai Sotto who used some invaluable chat time with assistant coach Tim Cone on the bench to show his sport round and spearhead a powerful second half by the Filipinos.
“I think that’s the value of good assistants,” Reyes mentioned. “Once we took Kai off the sport, I particularly requested coach Tim to inform (Sotto) why we needed to be taken out and what we have been on the lookout for him.
“When we reinserted him, he had a turnover and so we took him out again to just deliver a point. And that was crucial, as Kai could’ve just gone into a funk and lost interest in the second half. But to his credit, he came out. And as we shifted the matchups, Kai dominated. He got like five defensive rebounds and then scored while becoming a presence in defense. That’s what we really needed from him.”
As Sotto and Thompson started discovering their spots within the Gilas rotation, it turned simpler for longtime program mainstays like Dwight Ramos to choose their spots.
Dwight ‘a luxury’
And in opposition to Jordan, Ramos discovered his on the defensive aspect of the ball.
“What a luxury to have a player like Dwight,” mentioned Reyes. “We felt (he) was the best matchup because of the size and how hard (naturalized guard Dar) Tucker goes to the basket … we talked to him about it, we prepared him for it.”
“We knew it was gonna take away from his offense, but his contribution was mainly to be Tucker’s stopper,” Reyes added. “To his credit, he really did this job well.”
Ramos completed with simply 5 factors however had 4 assists, 4 steals and a block.
The Nationals actually regarded a decent bunch within the second half, limiting the hosts to simply 25 factors behind Thompson and the 7-foot-2 Sotto.
Thompson, contemporary from keen his PBA membership previous a powerhouse final Sunday, completed with eight factors, 13 rebounds and eight assists, in the end pacing the Filipinos with +25 in effectivity. Sotto wound up with a team-best 16 factors, seven boards and two assists that went with a pair of blocks.
“[We just have to] stick to coach’s system and trust the process,” Thompson mentioned. “This is big going into the game against Saudi because it keeps our confidence high.”
“(The game) will be on their home court, but we aspire to go there bringing greater energy,” he added of the battle which is ready in Abdullah Sports activities Metropolis this Sunday night time (Monday midnight in Manila). INQ
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