GILAS Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes is unfazed by the news of Korea's pullout in the February window of the 2023 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers and would rather focus on the Philippines' own preparations for the said games.
Chot on Korea pullout
"Obviously, it throws a monkey wrench in our preparations because we have been preparing for Korea for the past couple of days, for the past week actually," he said in an Instagram Live.
"Having said that, we'd like to think that we built this team on versatility. Agility was one of the very first things we talked about in our very first day of practice and how we really need to be prepared for whatever jobs because what we've learned in this environment that we are playing in now is that you can never really know what to expect. And this is one such thing."
Reyes continued: "So right now, the best thing that we can do is stay ready to be prepared. And the only thing we can focus on is our own health."
The Gilas mentor also shared that all 15 players inside the Big Dome bubble have brought back negative COVID-19 tests and it allows them to focus fully on the upcoming games against New Zealand and India.
"That was my message to the players. Let's focus on the things that we can control right now. That is our preparation, our health, to stay focused, mentally, and also to be emotionally prepared for whatever the schedule is," he said.
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