THE art of war?
Gilas Pilipinas is preparing for the tournament of a lifetime and what better way to toughen up for a tough battle in the FIBA World Cup than learning how to hurdle adversities from someone who has firsthand experience?
National coach Chot Reyes asked Liev Koshevatskyi of the Ukraine Under-20 team to give a short but moving talk to his charges after their 84-74 victory in their second straight tune-up game last Sunday night in Kaunas, Lithuania.
“I thought it was important for us to get a perspective from somebody from another team, most especially against a team that is going through extreme adversity because we all know what’s going on in Ukraine at the moment,” Reyes said.
“It was important for them to gain (lessons), (because a) very important part of coping with adversity has got to do with having a greater appreciation of what you have,” he added.
With Ukraine under invasion from Russia since last year, Reyes is hoping his players could gain fortitude and inspiration from Koshevatskyi, 19, in its build up for the blue-ribbon world cage spectacle the country is co-hosting with Japan and Indonesia from Aug. 25 to Sept. 10.
“To hear it firsthand from Leo what they are going through, to hear it from someone firsthand, all the sacrifices, I think it’s important,” Reyes said.
Naturalized Filipino forward Justin Brownlee showed the way for Gilas with 21 points and eight rebounds, while CJ Perez chipped in 14 markers.
June Mar Fajardo and Dwight Ramos also had nine points each as Gilas did an encore to a 70-61 win against the same squad three days ago.
The Philippine five dropped its first two scrimmages against Estonia 71-81 and Finland 85-89 last week.
Gilas was drawn with Italy, Dominican Republic, and Angola in Group A of the World Cup.
The Filipino cagers need to finish at least in the top two at the end of the group stage to advance to the next round and hopefully boost their bid of becoming the best placed Asian squad to directly qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
