British coach: Team Phl a ‘well-oiled machine’

Into the first day of its FIBA Asia Cup buildup, Team Gilas impressed no less than British coach and former Thailand mentor Tim Lewis, who saw talent and depth at each spot.

He also marveled at the Filipinos’ up-tempo game.

“It’s impressive. It’s a well-oiled machine. It’s a really good job done by your guys,” said Lewis of the team that lacks size and ceiling.

Upon the invitation of Team Phl assistant coach Josh Reyes, Lewis showed in Team Gilas’ first practice for the Asia Cup wars next month.

Lewis, a former NBA D-League assistant coach who has just finished his stint as head coach of Thailand national team, is now working with the TNT KaTropa Texters, sharing his knowledge and insights.

Since Lewis is around, the Gilas coaching staff deemed it well to also hear from the British coach.

Coach Chot Reyes let Lewis take the floor and share some philosophy to the team – specifically on defense.

“Since he asked if he could come to practice. We said sure on the condition that there are some stuff that we want to also put into our defense,” said Reyes.

Lewis obliged.

“Just some different defensive concepts and things like that,” he said. “Then coach will take it away and then decide whether or not that’s what he wants to do – or you know, he wants to do something slightly different.”

He gave his thumbs up on Gilas’ offensive style.

“The way you play is at uptempo style of basketball because of the size or the lack of it at times,” he said.

He’s familiar with it, having faced Gilas in numerous SEABA meets, including the recent SEABA Championship where he steered Thailand to a third-place finish behind the Philippines and Indonesia.

Seeing the current Gilas team just in a practice environment, he said it’s hard to make an assessment of what they can do in the coming Lebanon meet.