MANILA, Philippines – It may be a tough pill to swallow, but a 46-point loss to New Zealand might just be a necessary part of Gilas Pilipinas’ progress.

National team program director Chot Reyes said facing top-tier teams like the Tall Blacks will prove beneficial down the road even after the Filipinos absorbed a 60-106 loss in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

“That is all part of the process,” said Reyes on Friday, July 1, as he handed Nenad Vucinic the coaching reins for the third window of the Asian Cup Qualifiers due to his commitment to TNT in the PBA.

“Our young ones need to get used to playing quality competition like that. That is just going to help them and prepare them for the bigger task at hand.”

A cause of concern, though, for Reyes is the ankle injury Carl Tamayo suffered against New Zealand.

Tamayo finished with a game-high 16 points on top of 5 rebounds against the Kiwis before he left the game in the fourth quarter after hurting his ankle.

Without Tamayo, only 10 players are expected to play in the Philippines’ final first-round assignment against India on Sunday, July 3, with naturalized big man Angelo Kouame already sidelined by a knee injury.

“I have to talk to coach Nenad first tomorrow. I’m worried about Carl, he sprained his ankle yesterday, right? It looks like he tweaked it. I hope he is okay. So we have to figure out what we’re going to do for Sunday.”

From New Zealand, Gilas Pilipinas returns home through a connecting flight in Sydney, Australia before it hosts India on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Reyes acknowledged it is not the most favorable situation for a team playing two games within four days, but he said these kind of complications are instrumental in the players’ development.

“I told the players, when you go through difficult situations like this and when you go through adversity like this, it will make you better. It is going to make them better.” – Rappler.com