MANILA, Philippines – With just a little more than a week to go before the start of the FIBA World Cup, Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes is hoping for Scottie Thompson and Kai Sotto to be in game shape in time for the basketball meet.
Thompson and Sotto joined Gilas practices just recently, the former having nursed a hand injury and the latter having suffered back spasms last month.
In an interview with CNN Philippines’ Sportsdesk, Reyes said that it is still yet to be seen whether the two vital cogs are already in game shape.
The conditioning in practice is different from the conditioning in the game, the head coach underscored.
“All the rest, I am very confident that they are in competitive game shape already. All the training we have been doing, all the games we have played, they are already at that level already,” the tactician bared.
“But, [Sotto and Thompson,] they still have some catching up to do. You know, we have nine days, hopefully we can get them there, we fast track their progress,” he added.
All players are already joining in full contact practices.
“Everyone is doing everything. Full contact, no limitations, no restrictions.”
Thompson has good conditioning, Reyes revealed, since, despite his hand injury, he was able to continue working on his conditioning and running.
Sotto, for his part, was limited to just some drills in the past because of his back spasms.
“We have these last nine days to get them two of the shape we need them to be,” Reyes said.
Gilas will kick off its World Cup campaign on August 25 against the Dominican Republic.
Reyes said that the team is already in the final stages of their preparation for the massive tournament, adding they are already studying the profiles of their opponents in Group A — the Dominican Republic, Angola and Italy.