Chot Reyes says 'Puso' remains to be Gilas battle cry as he compares 2014 vs 2023 World Cup squads

'Puso' was Gilas Pilipinas' mantra when it ended a long 36-year FIBA World Cup appearance drought by qualifying to the 2014 edition in Spain.

Nine years later, head coach Chot Reyes stressed everything remains the same as they are once again repping the flag in the 2023 FIBA World Cup here.

The longtime tactician, however, noted that while 'Puso' continues to fuel the team, everything else may be different.

"I think 'Puso' is still very much present and it's still the anchor of everything we are doing," Reyes said in a press conference on Thursday.

"We always say that we fight until we cannot fight anymore for our country with all our hearts. That is what 'Laban Pilipinas, Puso' is all about."

For one, Gilas Pilipinas will be a very much different squad this time around with the majority of the crew getting their first-ever taste of what it's like to play in the World Cup. Save for team captain Japeth Aguilar, June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez, RR Pogoy, and Kiefer Ravena, everyone else is plunging to their World Cup debuts.

Aside from team composition, Reyes also highlighted the fact that their naturalized player from 2014, Andray Blatche, is far different from current reinforcement in Jordan Clarkson, noting that the two ballers offer unique things to the table.

Still, Reyes said the values and the embodiment of 'Puso' will always be the same for the nationals.

"The values remain the same [but] the tactics may differ. Obviously, different players, different techniques, different strategies, and different skill sets," Reyes added.

"That's the big difference, like Japeth said, before in the case of our naturalized player, we had a  seven-footer in Andray Blatche and now it's not the same."

Gilas will open its campaign on Friday at the Philippine Arena against Dominican Republic.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News