Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes only had one naturalized position spot for the 31st Southeast Asian Games.
Yes, unlike the 2019 edition of the tournament that allowed Gilas to field Christian Standhardinger, Chris Ross, and Stanley Pringle to the team, Vietnam will be following FIBA rules, meaning only one naturalized player can be fielded by a team.
With 7-foot Angelo Kouame still fulfilling his duties for Ateneo in the UAAP by the time the SEA Games begins, Reyes only had two choices — TNT’s Mikey Williams or San Miguel’s Mo Tautuaa.
And he went with size.
“We can only bring one naturalized player and we felt that we needed size because we have reports of the other countries having big naturalized players,” said Reyes.
“We thought that it was best for us to tap Mo Tautuaa instead.”
This will be the second time Tautuaa will compete in the SEA Games.
Back in 2019, he was part of Gilas 3×3, striking the first-ever gold in the regional meet for that sport along with Jason Perkins, Chris Newsome, and CJ Perez.
Reyes can’t hide his excitement that he can finally coach the 6-foot-8 Fil-Tongan.
“First time for me to Coach Mo Tautuaa, I thought that was important.
“All the rest, just coming together and playing the international game again,” he closed.
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