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    Chot bares why No. 4 Argentina wanted to hear coach from No. 31 PH speak in webinar

    Chot on getting invited as speaker in Argentina: 'Their coaches are constantly looking to learn'
    Jul 11, 2020
    by the numbers

    AROUND this same time last month and unknown to many people, former Gilas Pilipinas and eight-time champion PBA head coach Chot Reyes was making the country proud -- probably becoming the first Filipino coach, if not the very first, to speak in front of fellow coaches from a top basketball superpower in the world.

    Reyes, who steered Gilas Pilipinas to a runner-up finish behind Iran in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championships and a return stint to the FIBA World Cup in 2014 after an absence of nearly four decades, was invited by Daniel Maffei, an Argentinian coach and former Saudi Arabia national team coach, to speak online in a series of coaching webinars for his countrymen.

    Yes, a basketball coach from a country ranked No. 31 in the world just spoke in front of coaches from Argentina, currently ranked No. 4 in the world by FIBA.

    Around a hundred coaches from Argentina attended Reyes’ Zoom talk while another close to 400 were present on Facebook Live.

    “When I asked why coaches from the No. 4-ranked country in the world would want to hear from a coach from a country ranked No. 31 in the world, the host (Maffei) said they just want to learn more about the country where basketball is the No. 1 sport, not football (like Argentina),” said Reyes, record five-time Coach of the Year winner in the PBA with Purefoods, Coca-Cola (twice) and Talk ‘N Text (twice).

    “They also remember how well we played in the 2014 FIBA World Cup and how well we played as a team,” added Reyes, referring to Gilas Pilipinas’ close-shave 85-81 loss to the Argentines in that world stage in a game which the Filipinos led 12-2 in the opening four minutes of the game and trailed by just 81-82 with 2:03 remaining.

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    Aside from Argentina, the Philippines, led by Andray Blatche, Jimmy Alapag, Ranidel de Ocampo and Gabe Norwood, actually also lost by only 77-73 to Puerto Rico, 81-78 in overtime to Croatia and 82-70 to Greece, all basketball superpowers in the world.

    Reyes’ team then closed out the tourney with an 81-79 overtime victory over Senegal in the classification round, the Philippines’ first win in more than 40 years in the world basketball championships.

    Reyes was impressed with the Argentine coaches’ desire to continue learning and improve their craft.

    “Now we know why Argentina is No. 4 in the world in a sport that is not even their national pastime, and despite not having the tallest nor most talented players -- their coaches are constantly looking to learn. Talk about a #growthmindset,” Reyes explained. “They’re looking for ways to compensate for their lack of height or talent, ways to be a better team.

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      “Yes, in sports, as in corporate life or business, companies can overcome lack of size or resources or talent by having better teamwork, such that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This is what a #teamcoach does. He or she coaches the connections so the team can perform at its peak,” added Reyes, who is also currently a much sought-after team-building and life speaker by many business companies, both big and small.

      Prior to Reyes, the said Argentine coaches also had Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy and Svetislav Pesic, former Yugoslavian and FC Barcelona head coach as online speakers in early June while NCAA champion coach and Hall of Famer John Calipari followed Reyes as online speaker the week after.

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