MANILA – Gilas Pilipinas head coach Vincent “Chot” Reyes took the blame for their stunning defeat to Indonesia on Sunday night that denied them a gold medal finish in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam.
According to the veteran mentor, the players gave their best in their 85-81 defeat to Indonesia but added that there were “things that didn’t work out the way we played.”
“Our players played their best,” said Reyes. “Indonesia came with a very good game plan. They shot well from the three-point line. In the end, we just couldn’t match it.”
“Obviously that’s on me. I take full accountability and responsibility for the result. Like I said, they tried their best and that’s sports. That’s life,” he added.
Reyes, however, said that the outcome could have been different had the players on his wish list in Japeth Aguilar, Dwight Ramos, and Robert Bolick answered the call.
Aguilar begged off from the SEA Games as he was still recovering from the injury sustained during Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings’ championship run in the 2021-2022 PBA Governors’ Cup.
Ramos also did not join the tournament due to his commitment with his Japan B.League squad, while Bolick also said no to Reyes to attend to his ailing father.
“Two things that really hurt us was Japeth’s injury,” said Reyes. “We needed a mobile big man, an extra mobile big man aside from Troy [Rosario]. And that should have been Japeth.”
“And our outside shooting in the tournament was really bad. That was Dwight and Robert. Bolick was our original starting point guard here. But like we said, things didn’t turn out the way we wanted. That’s the way it goes,” he added.
“But still, no excuses. I thought we still have the team that could get the job done and we came up short,” the TNT Tropang Giga head coach further said.
The shocking bridesmaid finish for the national men’s basketball team in the SEA Games was stunning as the country was a 13-time defending gold medal winner in the biennial event./PN
