Yahoo PH Sports - Chot Reyes bows his head to lead the team in prayer. (Czeasar Dancel/NPPA Images)
Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes was proud of his players’ efforts even if they lost to South Korea to further lessen their chances of making it to the semifinals of the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.
As a result, Reyes said the responsibility was all on him.
“I'm very proud of my boys. They came out and fought hard. We fought up to the very end,” Reyes said as tweeted by Patricia Hizon of Sports5. “We were attacking the whole game and we were one shot away from pulling it off."
Reyes’ temperament was very different from what he showed in the press conference after the loss to Qatar. In that game, he called out naturalized player Marcus Douthit for failing to put in the effort. This time he refused to blame anyone but himself.
Douthit was benched against South Korea as a disciplinary action. Reyes said that the they will have to talk again on Sunday before he decides if the center would play in their game against Kazakhstan.
During the press conference, Reyes also commended the effort of skipper Jimmy Alapag whom the coach convinced to join Gilas one last time.
“That's the big difference physically between a 5-10 guy and a 6-7,” Reyes said explaining how difficult it was for Alapag to keep fighting after the point guard missed a crucial three late in the game after leading Gilas with 25 points. “It takes the double the effort for him to get his shot up.”
With their third straight loss, two coming in the quarterfinals, Gilas now needs the stars to align for a shot at advancing to the next stage.
“We need prayers,” Reyes admitted. “I think we're out of it unless Kazakhstan beats Qatar tonight even if we beat them tomorrow (Sunday).”
P.S.: Douthit should have played even for a short period. That was a crucial game. Mr Reyes should have let him redeem himself after a disappointing performance during Qatar game.
Source:
https://ph.sports.yahoo.com/news/blame-me--gilas-head-coach-reyes-takes-responsibility-for-gilas-loss-081302548.html
0 comments:
Post a Comment