‘Not much is going to change’ if Vucinic takes over as Gilas head coach, assures Chot Reyes

Despite being inactive on social media for quite sometime now, Chot Reyes is aware of the public clamor for his ouster as Gilas Pilipinas head coach.

Reyes, also the national basketball team’s program director, came under fire from Filipino fans after back-to-back disappointing finishes in the 31st Southeast Asian Games and the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup.

Aside from his resignation, passionate supporters have suggested that assistant coach and Tab Baldwin protege Nenad Vucinic take over the hot seat.

The 57-year old Vucinic, a native of Serbia who once handled the New Zealand Tall Blacks, took the reigns from Reyes during the 3rd window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers and led Gilas to a 1-1 record.

While he admittedly is open to the idea, the PBA’s one and only 6-time Coach of the Year awardee bared that it is not his decision to make as the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) has complete say on the matter.

“Yeah, we had discussions about that. Unfortunately, we cannot divulge the content of those discussions,” sad Reyes during an interview with Play It Right TV. “That’s not my call.”

And even if the federation gives in to the request of the public, Reyes assured that there won’t be significant changes with the national team’s performance.

“That’s always a possibility but even if he is the head coach, it’s not going to give us a naturalized player or the players that we want. Not much is going to change. You’re still not going to get the preparation time,” explained Reyes.

“Those are the cards dealt to us.”