Time and player availability are the challenges Gilas Pilipinas will once again encounter in preparation for the fifth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers in November even as the national team had started their weekly Monday training sessions.
Gilas coach Chot Reyes confirmed facing these challenges as the ongoing Commissioner’s Cup and the new season of the Japan B. League where some of our mainstays are playing, had made it more complicated for Reyes to select players who can train on a consistent basis a few months before the fifth window.
The Philippines will play away games against Jordan on November 10 and against Saudi Arabia on November 13.
In the game against Lebanon in the fourth window held in Beirut, Clarkson, the NBA star playing for the Utah Jazz, only had two practices with the team while 7-foot-2 center Kai Sotto, who plays for the Adelaide 36ers in NBL Australia, had three sessions with the team.
Against Jordan, Reyes expects a tough grind in taking on a team that barely made it to the championship round in the FIBA Asia Cup, but lost to Lebanon in a down-to-the-wire encounter, 86-85, in the semifinals.