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Right in return to practice, Guiao tries "tall ball" Gilas rotation

Greg Slaughter was excused from Gilas practice on Monday night, but don't be surprised if Coach Yeng puts him and Junemar Fajardo together at the same time. Dennis Acosta (file photo)
By Ivan Saldajeno

PASIG--Imagine this: Arwind Santos and Troy Rosario at the wings and Junemar Fajardo and Kai Sotto at the posts with an arbitrary point guard.

Coach Yeng Guiao tried that situational five right in the very first day back at practice of Gilas Pilipinas on Monday night at the Meralco Gym.

But according to Guiao, the idea of a "tall ball" quintet in the drills should be credited to his associates.

"The assistant coaches are really taking care of the combinations. I don't really give them any specific instructions on who to combine in the five-on-five," said Guiao.

However, he admitted that he wants to see the six-foot-four Santos, a natural small forward, and the six-foot-seven Rosario, a natural stretch-four, on the floor at the same time at the wingman positions.

"The reason why I took them in this team is to convert them into big 3's. Kung Iran ang makakalaban natin, these are our [Nikkhah] Bahrami stoppers. Kung darating si Bahrami dito, instead of just having Gabe as our match-up for Bahrami, meron tayong tatlong players," Guiao continued.

But regardless if he goes tall ball or not in the Dec. 3 game or even in the Kazakhstan game on Nov. 30, he expects his national team players to be ready at all times.

"Anybody should be able to play with anybody. Dapat homogeneous yung mga combinations natin," Guiao continued.

Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno