CHOT Reyes admitted Gilas Pilipinas will have to make a big adjustment in its style of play when the host team battles unbeaten Qatar in the 27th Fiba-Asia Championship Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
He said the Qataris are a different kind of animal compared to Chinese-Taipei and Japan, two teams with similar playing styles whom the nationals faced in back-to-back fashion.
“Against Qatar, we have to be able to switch our thinking back to a different style altogether,” said Reyes of the team’s second game in round 2 of the preliminaries.
Qatar currently shares the top spot with Chinese-Taipei in Group E, a game ahead of Gilas Pilipinas at 2-1.
“(The Qataris) are big, bruising, and like to pound (the ball) inside,” Reyes added.
Other than bringing back the core of its 2007 team, Reyes noted how Qatar has obtained the services of a good and dangerous naturalized player in Jarvis Hayes, the 10th overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.
“It’s really going to be a tough game tomorrow. We just hope we can generate a lot confidence from the victory tonight,” said Reyes, referring to the 90-71 rout Gilas handed the Japanese national team.
Even without Hayes, Qatar had already beaten Gilas Pilipinas in the battle for the bronze, 79-63, during last year’s Fiba-Asia Cup in Tokyo, Japan.
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