TEAM manager Jojo Lastimosa will tend to the herd as Chot Reyes spends more time in preparing the national men’s team for the FIBA 2023 World Cup the country is lead hosting from August 25 to September 10.
“I only stepped back as TNT coach and I did not quit as its head coach,” Reyes told BusinessMirror on Tuesday. “I will be a consultant first for the TNT for the meantime this conference and I will be focusing more as national head coach of the Philippine team.”
In place of the 59-year-old tactician is Lastimosa, officially TNT’s team manager who also dabbles as Reyes’s assistant and consultant during training and games.
Reyes said Lastimosa would be playing a more active coaching role as the Tropang Giga try to bounce back from a 4-8 won-lost record that booted them out of the Commissioner’s Cup playoffs for the first time.
TNT will parade 6-foot-6 Jalen Hudson as their import for the Governors’ Cup.
Reyes, meanwhile, said it’s a dream come true for every Filipino as the country hosts a huge international basketball tournament later this year at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Mall of Asia Arena and the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
“This is the dream—the tournament that will help us qualify for the Olympics [Paris 2024], so I want to make sure that we are [strongly] prepared as possible—and that’s why I stepped back from coaching TNT to being a consultant,” Reyes said.
As consultant, Reyes will still be monitoring the day-to-day operations of the Tropang Giga.
Lastimosa will be assisted by Bong Ravena, Joshua Reyes, Sandy Arespacochaga, Ranidel De Ocampo and Roel Escueta at the bench.
The Philippine Basketball Association, on the other hand, approved the trade between Blackwater and Converge with the Elite acquiring RK Ilagan, Tyrus Hill and Mike Digregorio for FiberXers big man Barkley Ebona and their 2022 first round draft pick (TNT pick) in Season 48.