After concluding their Europe training camp with a win against Lithuania, Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes shared that he has been impressed with how the squad has grown together, after several friendly games as they continue their 2023 FIBA World Cup build-up.

• Gilas thwarts Lithuania to end Europe friendlies

“We definitely showed improvement,” Reyes said in a post-game interview with Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas’ Carlo Pamintuan. “What's truly impressive was the effort of the players to defend, dive for loose balls, and also the effort to play together, that was very, very important. The defense that we had from game one to now, game six, is like really night and day,” he exclaimed.

“All the work we put in on perfecting our defense is starting to show.”

Despite this, the multiple-time former PBA Coach of the Year awardee emphasized that the job is far from over for the Nationals.

“But still, we all know there's still a lot of work to be done. We're still a work in progress, but I’m pretty satisfied with our game today,” he added.

Moving forward, one of their top priority is making adjustments, especially with the injuries of two of their top players in Scottie Thompson and Dwight Ramos.

Thompson recently had a fracture on his shooting hand, while Ramos has been dealing with a lower leg injury that is yet to be determined.

• Gilas' Scottie Thompson sustains injury in training
• Coach Chot: Gilas bullish despite Thompson's injury

“First is recovery, they have to rest, and then we have to evaluate, we have to sit down sa coaching staff. We have to take a look and get the official medical prognosis on Scottie’s injury, get an MRI for Dwight’s knee as well, because those are very important on the decisions we have to make when we get back to Manila,” Reyes explained.

But after that, the grind will continue for the World Cup-bound squad.

“After a few days, [we’ll] go back to work, go back to practicing in Manila, and try to stay sharp,” Reyes added.

Sustaining their lessons from their European camp will be the key for the Filipino hoopers as they move forward to playing more tune-up games with only a few weeks before FIBA tips off in August.

“I think that’s the most important thing as we continue to grow from the lessons that we learned here, to improve, and then prepare for tough games in our China series in which we are going to play full national team again," he ended.

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