GILAS Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes is convinced do-it-all players Thirdy Ravena and Dwight Ramos have what it takes to be the next leaders of the squad.
“What we’re looking for with Dwight and Thirdy is not to lead the team in scoring but to lead the team, so we are really looking at them to be the leaders of this team,” Reyes said.
“Scoring is never an issue for us. We never go out and consciously look to score, we run our stuff and we take advantage of opportunities,” he added.
Reyes spoke after the Filipino cagers proved too much against India, scoring a runaway 88-64 victory last Friday in Group A of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Gilas tangled with New Zealand last night also at the Big Dome in a veritable stern test to cap its campaign in the February window that saw the sudden pullout of nemesis South Korea due to COVID-19 infections among its players.
Ranged against the young and tall Indians, the 6-foot-5 Ramos led the Nationals with 17 points, on top of four rebounds and three assists, while Ravena chipped in 15 markers and three dimes.
NorthPort gunner Robert Bolick also had 10 and four in the triumph.
Tapped to make up Reyes’ 12-man line-up against the Tall Blacks were Ravena, Ramos, Bolick, Juan Gomez de Liaño, William Navarro, naturalized player Ange Kouame, and TNT players Troy Rosario, JP Erram, Kelly Williams, Roger Pogoy, and Kib Montalbo.
In their mid-20s, Ravena and Ramos, who are also proving their worth as Japan B.League imports for San-En and Toyama, respectively, are being counted upon by Reyes to lead Gilas in future international tourneys, including the World Cup the country is co-hosting with Japan and Indonesia next year.
“We’re slowly transferring that mantle of leadership from the Gilas players of the past to these two guys now, because like I said, this is a longer program, we’re preparing for next year and beyond,” Reyes said.
“So, Dwight is 24, Thirdy is 25, so this is part of their maturation as leaders and that’s what we’re looking at for both of them.”
Incidentally, Ravena, Ramos, Bolick, and Gomez de Liaño were part of Reyes’ 23-for-2023 list of young guns expected to make up Gilas’ future.
