by Jonas Terrado
Coach Yeng Guiao admitted that the current twice-a-week practice schedule is making it difficult for Gilas Pilipinas to gain significant process in its preparation for the FIBA World Cup.
Gilas has held just eight practices while dealing with inconsistent attendance since preparation began in mid-June, and Guiao didn’t mince words when he said that making his players get used to his system remain a work in progress.
“Masyadong madalang yung twice-a-week for such a big responsibility of representing the country sa World Cup,” Guiao said after Thursday’s practice at the Meralco Gym.
Guiao had to settle for practices on Mondays and Thursday until early-August due to the busy schedule of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, leaving his players spending time to get familiar with the plays.
“Medyo nararamdaman na namin yung pressure to get the team together with the players getting to know our patterns by heart,” Guiao said.
“If we have twice-a-week practices, what we practice Monday, we start over again on a Thursday because they forget the plays. I know the players are focused on the players with their mother teams so it’s really difficult getting them to focus on the job at hand.
“We’re going to need more than twice-a-week (practices) to be able to make the players run the system by heart and instinctively because that requires a lot of repetition and that requires a lot of time,” he added.
