MANILA, Philippines -- Despite the issues and questions about the men's national team program, Gilas Pilipinas enjoyed a productive week of training in Batangas, comebacking head coach Chot Reyes said.

Members of the Gilas Pilipinas pool -- Ange Kouame, Tzaddy Rangel, Will Navarro, and Jaydee Tungcab -- joined the TNT training camp at the Malarayat Golf and Country Club where the Tropang GIGA prepared for the resumption of the PBA Governors' Cup.

Also joining the team were free agent guard Juan Gomez de Liano and Dwight Ramos, who was released by his Japanese ball club, the Toyama Grouses, for the upcoming FIBA window.

"The initial results are very, very promising," said Reyes during the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum on Tuesday morning.

Reyes is set to once again call the shots for Gilas Pilipinas, having replaced Tab Baldwin as head coach. His first order of business is preparing the team for the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers that will be held at the Araneta Coliseum from February 24-28.

With less than a month to put a team together and prepare them for the window, Reyes opted to boost the Gilas pool with members of his own TNT squad, several of whom have previous national team experiences.

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"I must say that I'm very pleased," Reyes said of the group's progress so far. "We've had what, four practices so far, but what we're seeing is very encouraging."

"In terms of effort, dedication, participation, engagement, wala akong masasabi," he added. "Not only with Juan GDL and Dwight, but everyone Ange Kouame, Tzaddy Rangel, Will Navarro and, of course, si Jaydee Tungcab."

Reyes did acknowledge that they are just in the initial stages of preparation.

"While we are very pleased, we're still very cautious because alam niyo naman, iba ang practice, iba ang laro, 'di ba. And we know how tough the competition is in the next window," he said.

The Philippines will play South Korea twice in the upcoming window, on February 24 and 28, while also facing India on February 22, and New Zealand on February 27.

Still, the coach is optimistic that they can achieve the goals that they've set for themselves in the upcoming window, which is to field a competitive team while still prioritizing the development of the players who will represent the country in the FIBA World Cup 2023.

For Reyes, it will also be an opportunity to learn more about the Gilas youngsters, who were included in the national team pool by Baldwin, the previous program director and coach.

"I hope to gain a clearer perspective, an understanding and a feel for the guys that I haven't had the opportunity to coach before, particularly Dwight, Ange, Juan GDL, everyone in the Gilas, Will Navarro, Tungcab, Tzaddy Rangel," said Reyes.

"And then secondly, we want to see how they can work with Roger Pogoy and Troy Rosario and all these other guys. Because like I said, the view is to put the best team together for 2023," he added.

With TNT set to return to action in the PBA this Friday, the group has broken camp in Batangas and returned to Metro Manila. They will continue training at the Moro Lorenzo Gym inside the Ateneo de Manila University campus in Quezon City.