Just like everyone else, Coach Chot Reyes was surprised that Gilas program director Tab Baldwin stepped down from his post to focus on Ateneo.
Fast-moving was the last 72 hours that saw Reyes being called for a meeting on Sunday before accepting the post a day later.
“I received a call on Saturday night for a meeting with the chairman (Manny V. Pangilinan) on Sunday afternoon,” Reyes recalled to Tiebreaker Times. “In the meeting was chairman MVP with SBP president Al Panlilio and PBA chairman Ricky Vargas and they informed me that Tab (Baldwin) has chosen to step down and focus on Ateneo.
“They asked me if I was willing to come back and coach Gilas. I’m just as surprised as anyone. Obviously, I needed time to consult with my family.”
Not wanting to turn down the call of duty, Reyes accepted the post 24 hours after the meeting.
“We met with Mr. MVP again yesterday to formalize it.”
The nine-time PBA champion coach though has yet to process everything that transpired over the past few days.
In fact, as of publishing, he is just plotting who will be the team, who his staff will be, and when and where the practices will be held.
“I haven’t even had the chance to catch my breath. I haven’t processed it yet,” admitted the amiable tactician, who just returned to coaching a year ago after a four-year sabbatical. “I’m just in the process of putting a plan together and see who are the players on the pool, the schedule, and the coaching staff. I haven’t gotten time to really step back, reflect, and think about what to feel about it.
“I’m just caught up with the urgency of everything. Remember, I’m in the bubble now with TNT because we are preparing for the resumption of PBA on February 11.“
During his first two stints as Gilas head coach, Reyes has always put a premium on practice. And it will be the same this time around as he looks to begin camp as early as tomorrow.
Currently, he and his team are burning lines to see who will be available for the first window of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers which takes place from February 24-28 at the SMART Araneta Coliseum. One of the players called up was free agent Juan Gomez de Liano.
“To get as much practice time as possible.
“That’s why the first order of business is to contact players who are available so we can call the practice immediately by tomorrow. There’s not a single minute to spare because we are playing tough teams in a few weeks’ time,” he said as Gilas will face South Korea on the 24th, India on the 25th, New Zealand on the 27th, and South Korea again on the 28th.
Unfamiliar though to Reyes will be the setup this time around for Gilas practices.
Unlike back in the 2010s wherein Gilas would hold nightly practices at Meralco Gym, the ongoing pandemic will require him to hold full bubble practices for the nationals.
Besides this, Reyes will most likely not have the 2019 batch of Gilas draftees as they have requested the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas to release them to join their mother teams in the PBA. The only remaining cadets are William Navarro, Tzaddy Rangel, Jaydee Tungcab, and naturalized big man Angelo Kouame.
Meanwhile, UAAP student-athletes like Justine Baltazar of La Salle, RJ Abarrientos of Far Eastern University, and SJ Belangel and Geo Chiu of Ateneo are not allowed to go out of their respective bubbles as the Commission on Higher Education is strictly enforcing a closed bubble modality for their trainings.
That is why Reyes will look to bring the core of TNT up to Gilas for this window — for familiarity’s sake.
“I think we cannot avoid that because otherwise, there is no team. The remaining players from Coach Tab’s pool is not even ten. They can’t even put up eight guys now. I need to have a full team for Gilas.”
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