Taipei - Reyes still hoping to play in Tianjin
Despite riding the bench throughout the William R. Jones Cup, Ryan Reyes isn’t losing hope. Reyes has been listed as an alternate along with Ranidel de Ocampo, but the Sta. Lucia Realty playmaker is hoping to recover from a pulled hamstring soon and be at least 90-percent fit to see action in the International Basketball Federation (Fiba)-Asia Men’s Championship in Tianjin, China, next month. The fitness grade was set by Powerade-Team Pilipinas coach Yeng Guiao, who can still change his roster three days before the proper tournament on August 6.
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Despite riding the bench throughout the William R. Jones Cup, Ryan Reyes isn’t losing hope.
Reyes has been listed as an alternate along with Ranidel de Ocampo, but the Sta. Lucia Realty playmaker is hoping to recover from a pulled hamstring soon and be at least 90-percent fit to see action in the International Basketball Federation (Fiba)-Asia Men’s Championship in Tianjin, China, next month.
The fitness grade was set by Powerade-Team Pilipinas coach Yeng Guiao, who can still change his roster three days before the proper tournament on August 6.
“If Ryan tells me he’s okay to play, then I’ll find a way for him,” said Guiao.
“Pero ang usapan naming, kapag hindi siya 90 percent to 95 percent healthy and can’t compete in this kind of level, baka mahirapan na,” he added.
The 25-year-old Reyes injured his left thigh in the national squad’s first game in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (Seaba) Men’s Championship in Medan, Indonesia, in June.
Reyes said he will immediately see sports doctor Raul Canlas once the team arrives in Manila on Monday.
“If I don’t feel I’m 90-percent healthy, then I’d rather not play because I don’t want to bring the team down,” said Reyes.
Reyes is supposed to be one of the team’s main point guards, along with Jayjay Helterbrand, who suffered the same injury before the Seaba tournament.
With Reyes’s status uncertain, Guiao said he’ll just make the adjustments.
“We can use Gabe [Norwood] and Willie [Miller] at point,” said Guiao, who admitted that Reyes is a vital player for his size and speed and ability to guard the taller guards of other Asian teams.
Helterbrand is also playing here with pain. Wynne Arboleda was a late replacement for the Jones Cup but is not part of the 15-man roster submitted by the team to the Fiba-Asia organizers for the Tianjin meet, a qualifier for the world championship.
The Philippines is bracketed with South Korea, Japan and Sri Lanka in Group A of the Fiba-Asia qualifier where the top three teams qualify for the World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey, next year.