By REYNALD MAGALLON
Making the decision on who to cut from the Gilas Pilipinas lineup has always been the most difficult job for head coach Chot Reyes.
This year’s World Cup is no different.
In fact, it was even the ‘deepest cut’ Reyes had to make.
“Very difficult. I like to call it the deepest cut. Really difficult. Some guys we had to cut were there from day one,” said Reyes who stressed that he made sure to personally inform the players of the coaches’ decision.
“I was very subdued after practice because I told them the coaching staff is about to make a very tough decision but it falls on me to deliver the news and the way I like to do it is that I call the players themselves,” he added.
Chris Newsome, Calvin Oftana, Ray Parks Jr. and Thirdy Ravena were the final cuts in the remaining 16-man pool of Gilas.
“That’s my commitment to the players. They’re not going to find out about it on social media or from any other person but from me. I talked to Thirdy personally, I made a call myself to Ray, Calvin, and to Chris. I called them all,” he added.
Reyes said there was really no particular final cut as all of the players were informed all at the same time. The only reason why it was only Newsome who remains with the team in its past few practices is because some of the other players already have personal endeavors to attend to.
“The reason why Chris is still with us is because Thirdy and Ray have to report back already to Japan, to their teams, and Calvin had to be in Dumaguete with his family. They would have been here with us,” explained the veteran coach.
Reyes also had nothing but good words for the four players who missed the final lineup especially with all the sacrifices and work they put in during the national team’s three-month buildup.
In the end, the coaches had no other choice but to make the call.
“It was difficult for us and like I told them, it’s not because of what they did wrong or what they lack, it’s just we had to make a choice. In the end, we had 16 guys and we could only choose 12. For me, that’s really a coach’s most difficult job,” he rued.
