Chot Reyes won't take Indonesia for granted

MANILA (SEABA Championship 2017) - The Philippines have been the most dominant team in the SEABA Championship 2017, but they are still one win away from the FIBA Asia Cup 2017.

The final team in their way is Indonesia.

Despite barreling through the entire field in their first five games, the Philippines know that they cannot look past Indonesia, who also enter this final day with an unblemished win-loss slate.

"It's a competition and the essence of sport is you can never be sure," said coach Chot Reyes after their win over Vietnam last night. "That's why we keep on harping about not taking any team for granted."

Coach Chot and his staff have scouted Indonesia well, and they know the quality of their very capable foes.

"Indonesia is very well coached," he said "And they have a heady point guard who is not afraid to take over in the clutch. They're getting ready and raring to go."

"From the start, we knew Indonesia would be the toughest opponent."Chot ReyesChot Reyes

One thing that makes Indonesia dangerous is the fact that they have a couple of players who are fresher than everyone else. These are Arki Wisnu and Jamarr Johnson, both of whom started playing just yesterday after officially getting cleared by the SEABA technical committee two days ago.

"They have a couple of guys who are very fresh," explained coach Chot. "Wisnu and Johnson are gonna be very fresh, and we have to be ready for that."

Many fans are not too worried about the Indons' challenge. Gilas Pilipinas, after all, have obliterated any and all opposition, winning by an average of 63.8 points.

Coach Chot, however, knows better. After so many years of coaching at the international level, he is aware that in this game and at this level, all it takes is one bad day for everything to blow up in smoke. This is why, despite every indication pointing to the Philippines cruising to their sixth straight win, the bemedalled bench tactician refuses to be complacent. His eyes are squarely on the prize - a slot at the FIBA Asia Cup 2017 and the Asian Qualifiers for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019.

"We are not concerned about margin of victory," he said. "We just want to get the job done, get to FIBA Asia and now there are 40 minutes separating us from that." 

FIBA