COACH Chot Reyes and Gilas Pilipinas are pinning their hopes on a big win against Japan to keep their title dreams alive in the FIBA Asia Cup.
“I told the players after the game that we still have a chance against Japan to get to the top eight,” Reyes said after the nationals absorbed a 72-95 loss to New Zealand last Sunday night.
“We must forget about this ball game and just focus our energies and thoughts on the next game,” he added.
The Filipino cagers take on the Akatsuki Five today in a knockout duel for a quarterfinals berth at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta.
The winner will advance to the semifinals against world No. 3 Australia.
The Philippines wound up third in pool play in Group D with a 1-2 slate, its lone triumph coming at the expense of India 101-59 last Friday.
Japan finished with a 2-1 card for second in Group C but is coming off a 76-88 defeat to Iran two days ago.
What gnaws at Reyes is the nationals’ failure to crash the boards against the Kiwis — losing in that battle 28-61.
Gilas also only had one rebound in the first quarter, while New Zealand pulled down 21.
“Well, we lost the game in the first quarter. We got outrebounded by 33 rebounds,” Reyes rued. “So, there’s no chance and there’s no way for us to win a ballgame and get outrebounded that way.”
The likes of brothers Kiefer and Thirdy Ravena, Bobby Ray Parks Jr., Carl Tamayo, and Kevin Quiambao are expected to lead Gilas’ charge.
Reyes admitted his charges will have lots of adjustment against the Japanese.
“We talked about that briefly in the dugout, that we have to forget about this game because the next team we are playing plays a completely different type of ballgame,” he said. — Michael Jugado
