Post by stellarboy on Aug 15, 2013 18:32:04 GMT 8
Chot: There is method to madness of Gilas basketball
By Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBNnews.com
Posted at 08/15/2013 12:06 PM | Updated as of 08/15/2013 12:07 PM
MANILA, Philippines – National team head coach Chot Reyes regularly changed the starting five of Gilas Pilipinas, substituted his big men for guards and vice versa, and in return, received a tremendous amount of criticism from pundits and fans alike.
“I got a lot of heat from this,” Reyes said in an interview on ANC’s "Headstart" Thursday. “Because we, as a team, we don’t really have a first team. People are in and out, in and out. Pasok ‘yung malaki para sa maliit, pasok ‘yung maliit para sa malaki.”
“And people are saying – ano ba ang ginagawa ng coach na ‘to? Does he know what he’s doing?”
It turned out that Reyes did know what he was doing. Gilas Pilipinas, a team with three sub-six foot point guards and power forwards listed at 6-foot-5, had a magical run in the 27th FIBA Asia Championship, claiming the silver medal and earning a berth to the FIBA World Cup next year in Spain.
And Reyes, who was often criticized and questioned during their nine-game campaign, is now being hailed as a hero along with his courageous group of players.
“Quite a number of people say congratulations, but what I’m very surprised and very, very happy with are the people coming up to me and saying: Thank you. Thank you coach, maraming salamat,” he said. “Nagpapasalamat sila for making the country proud, for making them believe again, for all these things.”
Moreover, the things he was criticized for – the up-and-down style of play, the substitution patterns – wound up to be the very keys to Gilas’ victories.
“I will tell you, there was a method to the madness,” Reyes said. “We were playing a bara-bara, Filipino-type (of basketball).”
“In fact, the basketball purists, they say that the Philippines has no system. They’re just bara-bara. But that’s exactly how we wanted them to think. We wanted them to just set us aside,” he added.
“They didn’t know that there was, in fact, a very rigid discipline and precision behind all that. In the seeming… parang ang gulo-gulo, biglang meron na lang titira,” said Reyes, emphasizing his point by flailing his arms in the air as if to illustrate the Filipinos’ style of playing.
Not only did the bara-bara style of Gilas confound many of their opponents, it also endeared them to the thousands of fans who trooped to the Mall of Asia Arena every night, as well as to the millions who watched on television.
“I think in the end, that’s why our fans loved it, kasi ‘yung laro natin was so Filipino,” said Reyes. “We weren’t trying to be European, very precise. Hindi. It was bara-bara, Filipino style.”
“This team, ang mga players natin, masarap panoorin,” he stressed. “They’re small, but they’re very fast and they play a very interesting, very compelling ball game that’s very visually pleasing. It captured the imagination.”
www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/08/15/13/chot-there-method-madness-gilas-basketball
By Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBNnews.com
Posted at 08/15/2013 12:06 PM | Updated as of 08/15/2013 12:07 PM
MANILA, Philippines – National team head coach Chot Reyes regularly changed the starting five of Gilas Pilipinas, substituted his big men for guards and vice versa, and in return, received a tremendous amount of criticism from pundits and fans alike.
“I got a lot of heat from this,” Reyes said in an interview on ANC’s "Headstart" Thursday. “Because we, as a team, we don’t really have a first team. People are in and out, in and out. Pasok ‘yung malaki para sa maliit, pasok ‘yung maliit para sa malaki.”
“And people are saying – ano ba ang ginagawa ng coach na ‘to? Does he know what he’s doing?”
It turned out that Reyes did know what he was doing. Gilas Pilipinas, a team with three sub-six foot point guards and power forwards listed at 6-foot-5, had a magical run in the 27th FIBA Asia Championship, claiming the silver medal and earning a berth to the FIBA World Cup next year in Spain.
And Reyes, who was often criticized and questioned during their nine-game campaign, is now being hailed as a hero along with his courageous group of players.
“Quite a number of people say congratulations, but what I’m very surprised and very, very happy with are the people coming up to me and saying: Thank you. Thank you coach, maraming salamat,” he said. “Nagpapasalamat sila for making the country proud, for making them believe again, for all these things.”
Moreover, the things he was criticized for – the up-and-down style of play, the substitution patterns – wound up to be the very keys to Gilas’ victories.
“I will tell you, there was a method to the madness,” Reyes said. “We were playing a bara-bara, Filipino-type (of basketball).”
“In fact, the basketball purists, they say that the Philippines has no system. They’re just bara-bara. But that’s exactly how we wanted them to think. We wanted them to just set us aside,” he added.
“They didn’t know that there was, in fact, a very rigid discipline and precision behind all that. In the seeming… parang ang gulo-gulo, biglang meron na lang titira,” said Reyes, emphasizing his point by flailing his arms in the air as if to illustrate the Filipinos’ style of playing.
Not only did the bara-bara style of Gilas confound many of their opponents, it also endeared them to the thousands of fans who trooped to the Mall of Asia Arena every night, as well as to the millions who watched on television.
“I think in the end, that’s why our fans loved it, kasi ‘yung laro natin was so Filipino,” said Reyes. “We weren’t trying to be European, very precise. Hindi. It was bara-bara, Filipino style.”
“This team, ang mga players natin, masarap panoorin,” he stressed. “They’re small, but they’re very fast and they play a very interesting, very compelling ball game that’s very visually pleasing. It captured the imagination.”
www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/08/15/13/chot-there-method-madness-gilas-basketball