No rest for Gilas as it prepares for Mexico in final tuneup

Gilas Pilipinas will waste no time with a few days left before it opens its campaign against Dominican Republic in the 2023 FIBA World Cup on August 25 at the Philippine Arena.

National team head coach Chot Reyes said they won't take a break as they will prepare right away for the final tuneup game against fellow World Cup-bound Mexico on Monday night at the Philsports Arena.

“Hindi na, tuloy-tuloy na kami, tatlong araw na lang eh,” Reyes said after they fell to Montenegro in a friendly on Sunday.

(We'll continue, we just have three days left.)

Gilas will look to upset world no. 31 Mexico and end their final stretch of World Cup buildup on a winning note.

So far, Reyes had already used 14 of the 16-man pool during their two previous tuneup games against Ivory Coast and Montenegro. Against the former, Ray Parks Jr., Calvin Oftana, and Thirdy Ravena sat out as Gilas pulled off an 85-62 victory with naturalized Jordan Clarkson and big men June Mar Fajardo and AJ Edu leading the way.

In the loss to Montenegro, Oftana was fielded for four minutes, leaving Parks and Ravena the only players from the pool who haven't tasted any action in the tuneup series, which is set to determine the Final 12 for Gilas.

These friendlies, according to Reyes, will help them prepare for a much harder campaign in the World Cup. They will first face Dominican Republic on the opening day on August 25 before taking on Angola on the 27th and Italy on the 29th.

—Bea Micaller/JKC, GMA Integrated News