NOPE.
That was the emphatic response of former Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes when asked if he expected a lean Greek teenager the Filipinos played back in the 2014 Fiba World Cup in Seville, Spain to become the MVP of the NBA one day.
The kid, of course, was Giannis Antetokounmpo, who, after leading the Milwaukee Bucks to the best regular-season record and all the way to the Eastern Conference finals, was named league MVP on Tuesday.
The Antetokounmpo that Gilas faced in the preliminary stage of the 2014 World Cup was 19 and years away from his 'Greek Freak' days, although he was already prominent in the lineup having been drafted 15th overall by the Bucks the year before.
The 6-11 forward, however, hardly impressed in an off-the-bench role in the game against Gilas - an 82-70 Greece win best remembered for a late scuffle over accusations that Filipino guard LA Tenorio deliberately hit Hellas big man Kostas Papanikolaou in the groin.

Reyes came away from that game unimpressed with the Greek phenom.
"Di nga gumawa kay Gabe [Norwood], di ba," the former Gilas coach said. "But I knew he'd be a great NBA player."
That's not to say the multi-titled coach didn't prepare for the then Bucks rookie. Reyes said he specifically drew up a game plan for Antetokounmpo that was anchored on Norwood's lockdown defense.
The Gilas defensive scheme, Reyes recalled, was meant to, one, take away Antetokounmpo's transition opportunities; two, keep him off the boards; and three, force the Greek kid to take the outside shot.
"We specifically game-planned for him," he said. "One was to take away his transition opportunities. So yung binabantayan [ni Antetokounmpo] pag nag-change ng possession, must stick with him all the way until Gabe can pick him up.
"Sa halfcourt, give him space to force him to shoot from the outside, with the closest guy ready to help and the big guy zoning the middle. Kaya ang maraming ginawa, yung big man [ng Greece]," Reyes added.
"Then, pag may tumira [sa Greece], block out early,"
Whether it was that scheme or something else, Antetokounmpo hardly made an impact in the game against Gilas, scoring a grand total of three points [all on free throws] while going 0-of-3 from three-point land. He did grab six defensive rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench.
Take a look at his stats line:

Antetokounmpo, of course, looked a world away from that game, given his stature as the best player in the NBA today.
Asked what made Antetokounmpo the player the he is today, Reyes said, "superior physical conditioning, maturity, and good coaching."
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