By REYNALD MAGALLON
AJ Edu and Rhenz Abando drew praises from Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes after providing the spark to the Nationals’ 93-77 romp of Magnolia in a closed-door tuneup game at the Meralco Gym on Friday, July 28.
With Gilas suffering from another slow start – a struggle that has been hounding the Nationals even during their European trip, Edu and Abando gave a huge lift off the bench to help the team blow out an in-form Hotshots team that was fresh off an 11-0 sweep in the PBA on Tour.
Just as what Gilas needed in preparation for its trip in China, the Hotshots gave the Nationals a run for their money, pouncing on every Gilas’ missed opportunity to take the early lead.
“We had three or four wide open threes we failed to convert and Magnolia took advantage of it,” rued Reyes.
“After that, we were able to settle down. AJ Edu gave us a really good lift off the bench, Rhenz Abando, too,” he added.
Gilas played without Justin Brownlee, Kai Sotto and the injured Scottie Thompson who all watched from the sidelines during the game.
Edu and Abando, however, took the cudgels, leading the second unit of Gilas and pumping some life to the team which only needed to find its rhythm from deep to pull away.
“I was disappointed with the way we started. So we made a quick change. Good naman, the second unit stepped up and played with a lot of energy, got us going. And na sustain na namin,” said Reyes.
The veteran coach however pointed out the need for Gilas to play consistent basketball especially in the World Cup where it plays dangerous teams like the Dominican Republic, Italy and Angola.
“Throughout the game, there were moments, flashes of really really, really good basketball offensively and defensively. We just really need to sustain it over long periods of time,” he stressed.
Still, it was an encouraging development for Gilas which was still missing its most potent offensive weapon in Jordan Clarkson. It was also an improvement for the Nationals who only won by a slim margin, 86-81, over Ateneo last week.
Gilas now wraps up its Manila camp with a couple of more days of practices before flying for Guangdong, China on Wednesday, Aug. 2.
