Gilas working double time to get Blatche in shape

MANILA, Philippines -- Gilas Pilipinas coach Tab Baldwin said it is imperative for naturalized player Andray Blatche to get into shape just in time for the Fiba-Asia men’s championships in Changsa-Hunan, China two weeks from now.

Blatche, the 6-foot-11 former NBA slotman, failed to join Gilas during the team’s silver-medal run in the William Jones Cup that ended last Sunday.

The 29-year-old Blatche had to fly back to the United States during the first day of the Jones Cup to attend the funeral of his uncle, as well as be with his ailing mother.

By missing the weeklong tournament in Taipei, Baldwin said they’ve no doubt, experienced a setback as far as working him back into Gilas’ system.

But the American-Kiwi coach said they will try their best to get the former Brooklyn Nets big man as close as possible to the sharp form that made him a top performer during his initial stint with Gilas in last year’s Fiba World Cup in Seville, Spain.

“Dray is in the middle of a process right now. He came in (to Gilas practice) and he’s had some disruptions, but we have to work with him to get him as sharp as we can,” Baldwin said, when asked about Blatche’s condition, with two weeks to go before the Fiba-Asia cage joust, which will also serve as qualifier for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“Because of the disruptions, I don’t expect to see the same Andray we saw from 2014, but i think we can get him very close,” he added.

“And we need to get him very close so the degree to which we can push him right now, we got to try to find that balance between and helping him improve his fitness and conditioning and sharpness as a player, but not exposing him to getting so fatigue that he gets injured in the process.”

Since joining Gilas at the start of practice on Aug. 3, Blatche has only had over a week of practice and played three tuneup games during the national side’s stint in the Four Nation Toyota Cup in Estonia.

Gilas went winless in three games, losing to the Netherlands (89-62), Estonia (90-80) and Iceland (86-76).

In the 2014 Fiba World Cup, Blatche averaged 21.2 points and 13.8 rebounds, helping Gilas register an 81-79 overtime win against Senegal for the country’s first victory in the worlds since the 1974 edition in San Juan, Puerto Rico.