Gilas Pilipinas Basketball

Gilas Pilipinas stayed undefeated in the 2017 SEABA Championships after a 106-51 win over Malaysia on Sunday night.

In that victory, no one from the national played more than 20 minutes, and everyone was able to score.

Center June Mar Fajardo says it is credit to the better chemistry the team has now compared to when Gilas 5.0 started training together a month ago, which allows them to complement each other.

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“Maganda ang chemistry namin ngayon, ang tiwala sa isa’t isa. Hindi masyadong mabigat yung minutes namin at maganda yung nilaro ng lahat. Balanced yung scoring,” Fajardo said.

Fajardo started as usual, but barely broke sweat, logging only a total of eight minutes and 32 seconds while scoring five points.

Nevertheless, the big man is happy to see the team gel well on the court.

“Okay yung chemistry namin ngayon. Maganda yung pagkakagawa ni coach Chot. Masaya kami sa dugout, sa bawat isa, chine-cheer up namin,” he said.

It was noticeable from last night that Gilas head coach Chot Reyes tried out more combinations on the floor. Sometimes he went big, and in other instances he went with two point guards.

Fajardo is thankful for Reyes as the mentor is allowing them to play loose in the SEABA tournament, which is vital for continuing to know each other deeply.

“Ine-experiment ni coach kung sino yung mas magwowork sa loob ng court. Pero lahat naman nagwowork. Yun parang preparation ni coach sa amin,” Fajardo said.

“Nagpapasalamat din kami kasi hinahayaan lang niya kami maglaro eh. At the same time, kontrolado yung game. Hindi yung pabaya na laro. Sinusunod namin yung sistema niya.”

Fajardo started out as one of the back-up centers when Reyes first recruited him for Gilas 2.0. But now as one of the more experienced guys in the current roster, Fajardo is treasuring the journey while trying to lead the younger guys as well.

“Nagpapasalamat ako kay coach Chot sa tiwala na binigay niya sa akin, sa role na binigay niya sa amin,” he said.

“Iba’t iba kasi eh (ang mga Gilas teams). Last time beterano lahat, ako lang ata yung bata noon. Ngayon puro bata lahat. Kami na yung mga kuya. Bilis ng panahon diba. Kailangan talaga i-cherish mo yung moment na nandito ka. Malay natin sa next Gilas wala na kami so hangga’t nandito kami dapat gawin natin kung ano ikabubuti para sa bansa.”

Written by Levi Verora Jr
Photos by Glenn Michael Tan