I saw what Chot Reyes' gameplay was when Gilas Pilipinas battled the Dominican Republic in their first FIBA World Cup assignment.
Basically, they are going to feed Jordan Clarkson every F’N time.
Clarkson is the first to act and then the other players need to get ready for a rebound, kick out, or a drop pass. It’s a relatively easy play but at the same time, it’s predictable so they need Clarkson to get his game face on and not commit a lot of turnovers and the rest of the team needs to help JC in every way they can. This is the same setup Reyes used back in 2014. Andray Blatche gets the ball – whether on the mid-range or outside the three-point area. And then, the players need to do whatever they can to ensure the possession will be successful.
The difference between Clarkson and Blatche is that the former is a combo guard and the latter believes he’s a point center. When Blatche leaves the shaded area, the small Pinoy frontliners are tasked to protect the basket. Moreover, it’s hard for Reyes to use June Mar Fajardo because this means the team would sacrifice their speed and outside shooting.
In the current setup, Gilas is using Tim Cone’s Ginebra formula wherein Clarkson is doing his best Justin Brownlee impersonation while the rest of the bigs are either mimicking Japeth Aguilar (who is also in the squad) and either Greg Slaughter and/or Christian Standhardinger.
Like I said, I get it. Gilas Pilipinas’ primary offense consists of Jordan Clarkson shooting the ball (or trying to shoot the ball) in every possession.
I am not a pro basketball coach and I don’t think I can persuade the egos of these basketball players to follow what I am saying. With that said, I saw the game and I am kind of bummed.
First up, are we out of timeouts in the fourth quarter? If we are out of timeouts, then is it right for Chot to send his Gilas fave Kiefer Ravena inside the court? The reason why most Pinoy fans and haters “endured” Chot’s association with the Japanese B-League vet is that Kiefer knows Chot’s game. When a problem arises and Scottie Thompson is unable to get his game going, then Chot’s eyes and ears must be inside the court. When he saw Jordan Clarkson pushing the ball and getting enormous pressure in the halfcourt, Reyes should have given him help.
For a team that had Reyes, Tim Cone, and Jong Uichico, it’s insane that they are unable to solve the halfcourt turnovers.
We tried our best to pad on size and yet, he lost our playmakers. RR Pogoy is a 3-and-D guy. Jamie Malonzo can’t handle the ball. CJ Perez never got to see action and apart from that pre-halftime dunk, Rhenz Abando only had a cameo. Andy Jao had it bad on Japeth Aguilar in commentary but they were soft on Clarkson, Dwight Ramos, and Scottie Thompson.
I am not saying Ravena is flawless in this game. There were moments when he would kick out the ball with the threat of interception even if he had a clear lane for an inside shot. With that said, Ravena could have helped Clarkson, Ramos, and Thompson.
The announcers were pimping Jordan Clarkson as a willing passer but most of the time, he forces his baskets. I get that he might have an ego similar to what Karl-Anthony Towns had with his team but while the rest of the Dominicans struggled to make a basket in their halfcourt set, Gilas struggled to get the ball on the halfcourt – much less inside the paint.
And again, why is the Clarkson crossing the ball and shooting it after? Clarkson can be a combo guard but he can only have one position per possession. Why is JC playing like a PG and an SG in the same possession? Most of Clarkson’s errors are due to fatigue. The disqualifying foul is proof of how sapped Clarkson was after basically doing it all every single play. When Kiefer entered the court in the second quarter, the team had stability and it gave Clarkson a chance to rest in between possessions. I really thought Ravena would have an equal timeshare with Thompson in the second half.
Also, I don’t know if this is also due to fatigue from running up and down without doing anything significant but it feels like Scottie Thompson can’t control Clarkson and even Ramos for that matter.
Ramos went from hero to villain in the second half with his lack of defense and over-dribbling. Really, he dribbled the ball a lot. There were times when most of the possessions were shared by Clarkson alone or Ramos alone or a combination of Clarkson and either Thompson and Ramos. I know Ramos made a lot of timely shots but he also went cold in the fourth quarter and this was the time when the Dominican Republic broke out.
What happened to our substitution patterns?
Look. I am not hating on Chot Reyes. In fact, I can defend him when people would deem him unfit to coach the squad. The thing about Reyes is that he can tolerate the haters. This is why Gilas Pilipinas would either go foreign with our coaching choices or go with Chot. After Yeng Guiao, all local coaches are staying away from the Gilas head coaching post.
With that said, it’s easy to know that the Dominican Republic match was winnable if the people on the bench and inside the court would make the right decisions. They need someone to tell Clarkson that he’s prohibited from crossing the ball. If he wants to exert effort, then he should find a way to get himself open when the defenders trap the ball handler. Reyes needs to check his substitution patterns. I know Kai Sotto is injured and June Mar and AJ Edu endured.
The guards need to involve these two because they played well and they were the reasons alongside Clarkson and Ramos why the game was neck-to-neck.
Reyes needs to check his substitution patterns.
I said this already?
Reyes needs to check his substitution patterns.
Reyes needs to check his substitution patterns.
Reyes needs to check his substitution patterns.
Reyes needs to check his substitution patterns.
Reyes needs to check his substitution patterns.
Reyes needs to check his substitution patterns.
Reyes needs to check his substitution patterns.
CJ Perez and Chris Newsome are two players they need to get ready just in case they need to fill the void left by Kai Sotto. We seriously missed the services of Ray Parks here. Actually, Gilas should have gotten Gabe Norwood here. I know he’s an older player but at least he’s going to bolster our defense.
Anyway, this is one game where most of us expected the team to lose by a wide margin... and they didn’t.
Hopefully, we can do better in the next game.