GILAS Pilipinas has one major goal in the first week of its final buildup for the Fiba Basketball World Cup: get Rhenz Abando and AJ Edu familiar with the team’s style of play.
Abando and Edu are in the hunt for a spot in the Final 12 of the Gilas team for the World Cup, but both do not have enough appearances during the qualifiers to have a full grasp of the Gilas system under Chot Reyes.
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Abando played for only two games during the qualifiers against New Zealand and India during the third window.
Edu didn’t play at all during the qualifiers, and even suffered injuries during his stint with Toledo in the NCAA Division 1.
“We want to assimilate both Rhenz and AJ into what we are doing,” said Reyes. “Because the others already know basically the stuff that we are doing. We want to fast-track the assimilation of Rhenz and AJ.”
Gilas will shift its preparations to the Inspire Sports Academy next week before leaving for their European training camp that includes tune-up matches against Estonia and Finland.
Another priority of Gilas is to get the injured players back in full fitness. Among those injured, according to the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, are Roger Pogoy (finger fracture), Ray Parks (muscle strain) and Calvin Oftana (calf).
“People have to start to get into game shape because a lot of the guys are coming from a break, PBA, Japan, Korea guys are also coming from breaks. We are starting some conditioning already,” said Reyes.
“For those who are injured, to recover and make sure that they are fully healthy,” said Reyes.
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