CAN Gilas Pilipinas readily shift its sights and still maintain its focus after the sudden pullout of rival South Korea?
That will be known today when the Filipino cagers tangle with India in Group A in the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Coach Chot Reyes insisted the young and tall Indians are no pushovers, despite their 46-101 shellacking from powerhouse New Zealand yesterday in the window’s kickoff match.
“No. 1 (concern is India’s size.) They’ve had over the years, right before our eyes… seen India develop and grow into a legitimate basketball competitor. Their skills have tremendously improved and with the way coach Matic is with them, we’re very certain that they’re going to be well coached and well prepared,” Reyes said.
“That’s the thing I told our team, we have to completely be ready for a very tough team against India,” he added.
India is expected to be led by 7-foot-2 center Princepal Singh, who had a stint with Ignite in the NBA G League.
Aside from its ceiling, Reyes is also wary of India’s chemistry.
“They’re a tall team, well-coached and they’ve been together for a long time. A couple of guys there, we’ve seen them for 10 to 11 years, so they’ve been together for a decade already,” he said.
“You can imagine the kind of chemistry and familiarity they’ve built with each other. That alone is a cause for us to make sure that we’ll do our best to be able to compete against them.
