Gilas Pilipinas has four days to regroup in Japan before beginning its title defense in the men’s basketball competition of the 20th Nagoya Asian Games.
The Philippine team arrived in Aichi Prefecture on Monday after dropping two lopsided friendlies to South Korea in Suwon, 81-55 and 69-42.
The setbacks came as Gilas continues to develop its chemistry, with the current group having been assembled only three weeks ago.
Coach Tim Cone said the coaching staff will use the remaining time to prepare the players for the competition, starting with Bahrain on Sept. 11.
“Me and our staff will be better, and we’ll be better in helping our players prepare for what’s ahead,” Cone said in a news release of the Philippine Basketball Association.
Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser acknowledged that the team is still working through its adjustments but remained hopeful that its pieces will come together when the games matter.
“We’re still building, we’re still processing as a team. It may not click right away, but when it clicks, hopefully it’s at the right time and we’ll be able to have a good finish here,” the 6-foot-6 Filipino-American said.
The Philippines is in Pool C with Bahrain, Kazakhstan and China, which it beat in the semifinals of the Hangzhou Asian Games four years ago.
After Bahrain, Gilas will play Kazakhstan on Sept. 12 before meeting China on Sept. 14.
The Philippine coaching staff has also begun preparing for the personnel it will face in the group stage. Bahrain will have naturalized player JaKarr Sampson, while China will be without NBA sophomore Yang Hansen.
China will instead be led by 6-foot-11 veteran Hu Jingiu.
The Chinese Basketball Association said it will not call up players competing in the NBA and Women’s NBA for the Asian Games because it has “consistently supported players in developing their skills through high-level overseas leagues.”
Yang played 43 regular-season games for Portland in his rookie season, averaging 2.2 points and 1.5 rebounds in seven minutes per game.
Gilas deputy coach Richard Del Rosario said the team is preparing for each opponent as it seeks to retain the gold medal.
“We cannot take any team for granted,” Del Rosario said. “So we started preparations and scouting, those things.”
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