Chot banking on Pinoy crowd in Spain

MANILA, Philippines – It is a no-brainer that the Philippine men's national basketball team made it to the FIBA World Cup partly because of the passionate Filipino crowd that lifted them up in times when they just wanted to give up.

Last August, Gilas Pilipinas made history after earning a ticket to World Cup for the first time since 1978 by finishing second in last year’s FIBA Asia Championship in Manila.

Head coach Chot Reyes admitted that the crowd was their sixth man, urging them to continue when it seemed impossible to make it through.

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"Couple of games we shouldn't have won, but the adrenaline kept in and allowed us to find a way to win," said Reyes after Nike Philippines unveiled the team's uniforms at Taguig City on Thursday.

The multi-titled coach knows that it will not be the same playing in Spain compared to competing in Philippines and in front of thousands of fans at the Mall of Asia Arena.

"That's not gonna be in Spain (crowd)," uttered Reyes, hopeful that they will still get support from the Filipinos who are residing in Spain.

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"But, I'm not gonna be surprised if we are the most well attended games with the most fans," he added.

"Hopefully we are able to replicate MOA in Spain," Reyes further said.

Gilas Pilipinas is grouped with Argentina, Senegal, Puerto Rico, Greece and Croatia.