AN ugly result shouldn’t translate to an uglier reaction especially that the Philippines is the main host of the FIBA World Cup.
“It’s not time to blame anyone,” Rhenz Abando, one of the newest members of Gilas Pilipinas, told reporters at the Smart Araneta Coliseum’s Mixed Zone after their 90-83 loss to Italy that booted the team out from the knockout round.
“We should fight for our country together,” added Abando, a star of the Korean Basketball League champion team Anyang KGC, who got added playing time of 14 minutes against Italy after being sparingly used by head coach Chot Reyes in the Dominican Republic and Angola games.
He got eight points, two rebounds and a highlight block on Giampaolo Ricci against the Azzurri.
Abando came to the defense of Reyes, who, again, was booed and bashed for failing to steer Gilas to a single win in the group stage of the World Cup.
Kiefer Ravena was with Abando and so was Jordan Clarkson, the heart and soul of the team.
“I know it has been happening, but I’m going to play for my coach until the wheels fall off,” Ravena said.
Clarkson viewed the criticism on Reyes as something out of the ordinary.
“Especially us hosting and us being the home country. But I really don’t know much about the situation,” Clarkson said. “At that point, it feels a little weird and it’s out of the ordinary.”
Reyes admitted to BusinessMirror after the Philippines lost to Indonesia in the final at the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games last year that he’s used to all the criticism and has rarely, if not completely, shunned social media.
An in this World Cup, Reyes stressed his job, and that of the entire Gilas, isn’t over.
“We need to put together 40 minutes of good basketball because we want to go to the Olympics,” Reyes said. “I’m not thinking of numbers, my thoughts are on the Olympics.”
That’s all Gilas needs for a decent finish in this World Cup which offers an Olympic berth to the best-placed Asian team.
The classification round will determine which among the Philippines, China, Japan, Jordan, Iran or Lebanon will get that slot with all five crashing out from the race to the knockout stage.
The Philippines’ first assignment in the classification round starting on Thursday also at the Big Dome could either be China, Sudan or Puerto Rico.
The group stage were to wind up Wednesday night in the Philippines, Okinawa and Jakarta.
Clarkson’s not giving up and has rebooted for the classification round.
“We haven’t really felt like we’ve been out of any games. We fight,” Clarkson said. “We’re strong and we can put it together and try to get these two [games].”
He added: “We know what it means and we know what it means for the country. We are leaving it all out on the floor.”