Sot Reyes doesn’t want to add more players to the Gilas Pilipinas pool ahead of the FIBA ​​World Cup

Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes is not too interested in adding new players to the Gilas Pilipinas squad for the upcoming FIBA ​​World Cup, preferring to stick with the team he currently has.

„We put together a plan. We don’t want to go back and keep teaching and teaching and teaching,” Reyes said after Gilas completed its first practice since returning from their European training camp. „If we add a new guy, it’s back to square one with regards to teaching. So we’re balancing whether to add players or not. There’s a lot of considerations we have to figure out. It’s not as simple as calling someone.”

Sixteen players showed up on Thursday night despite the heavy rain that engulfed the metropolis. Three of them were unable to join the trip to Europe – Ray Parks, Calvin Aftana and RR Bogoi. All the players who went to Europe were in attendance except the injured Scotty Thompson.

„Voting has never been an issue for me,” Reyes said. „We’ve always known that’s why we have a pool. We’ll always have injuries, people will get sick and not be available. Now we’re coming back here and everybody’s coming back.”

Bogoy, who is still recovering from a broken arm, is a few weeks away from participating in full training.

„Roger was able to get into shooting practice earlier. But other than that, he still couldn’t catch a direct pass,” Reyes said.

The original squad consisted of 21 players, with Carl Tamayo the first to leave. The team is still waiting for Kai Soto and Jordan Clarkson, both of whom Reyes hopes will have their pocket tournament in China in the first week of August.

„As far as I know, Kai should join us after summer league,” Reyes said. „Jordan, we’re asking him to come soon. We want him to join us in the China tune-up series. That’s why we’re here now. But whether he can do it, we don’t know.”

Reyes is also unsure about Jordan Heading’s status: „I know he’s rehabbing his back. I don’t know if he can join us.”

However, AJ Edu is set to sit out the European tour with an ankle injury.

„He’s been doing all these things in Europe, and his ankle is still swollen so he can’t make it to the full five-in-five. But now that he’s rested for the last three days, I’m completely apart when we go to five-in-five. , AJ will join us.”

However, the Reyes wouldn’t completely rule out adding a new player or two should the need arise.

“People are always ready. Arvin [Tolentino], Marcio Lassiter. All of those guys know that if we decide to call on them, if the need arises, they’re going to be ready.

But for now, Reyes’ focus is on preparing for the four-nation tournament in China, where Gilas will face fellow World Cup teams Iran, Lebanon and Senegal.

„Everything we’re doing right now is in preparation for that,” Reyes said. „We want to prepare everyone, improve and continue to develop the progress we made in Europe and continue to work on the shape of our game. I think this is very important because we want to confirm that in China. We should already be close to the competitive level.”