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Gilas Women: As SEAG nears, Aquino has way of fine-tuning team

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Levi Joshua Verora Jr.

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="PSC/POC pool photo/File." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/04/14/20230414-psc-poc-pool-photo.jpg"/><figcaption>Gilas Pilipinas Women&#x27;s coach Patrick Aquino. PSC/POC pool photo/File.</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA – Not even the finest of details escape the observant eyes of Gilas Pilipinas Women head coach Patrick Aquino.In each practice session, he makes it a habit to intervene at any moment -- giving last-minutes directions to the squad as he lets his players fine-tune themselves three weeks before the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Cambodia in early May.“Ang dami nating error. Hindi nasho-shoot, ang bagal natin mag-setup,” Aquino exclaimed.He had arranged two five-woman selections to play each other for three minutes and set 12 as the target score, but neither reached the mark.On one occasion, Aquino singled out NU Lady Bulldog Angel Surada, who fouled the taller Clare Castro in the post.“Angel, anong sabi ko kanina kapag may pumoposte?” Aquino asked Surada.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/04/13/23/sea-games-ph-womens-volleyball-team-off-to-japan-training-camp">SEA Games: PH women&#x27;s volleyball team leaves for Japan training camp</a></li></ul>“Ang gulo-gulo niyo, hoy!” the mentor continued. At the time, the scoreboard read a minute and 42 seconds, and only one team had scored two points.Deeming it would be impossible to reach 12 points, Aquino asked all 10 players to proceed to the baseline to run from end to end as a penalty.“’Di na kayo aabot. Baseline!” he said, before reshuffling the rosters for the next batch.“Atake lang nang atake. How many seconds to come down, set up, so you can score 12 in three minutes,” he reiterated to the next 10 players.In white were Surada, Afril Bernardino, Sofia Roman, Stefanie Berbarabe, and 18-year-old Miriam College stalwart Camille Nolasco.On the other side of the floor were Camille Clarin, Katrina Guytingco, Monique Del Carmen, Andrea Tongco, and Mikka Cacho in blue.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/04/12/23/how-ex-gilas-women-assisted-in-beach-handball-milestone">Beach handball: How former Gilas Women assisted in milestone, and what lies next</a></li></ul>Before the clock started, Aquino had one last reminder for the last five-on-five of the day.“What can we do better? Sell the pick hard, attack hard, kick it out… Stick to the system that we can do more. Familiar tayo sa ginagawa natin,” he urged them.As if his instructions casted a magical spell, the game quickly ended at 13-5, with team white winning.Fifteen players attended Gilas Women’s Friday practice session; given the luxury, Aquino tested several different player combinations with the unique scrimmage format.Gone are the days where Gilas Women would scramble for pieces to fill in the final roster; with a bigger pool to choose his final 12 from, Aquino knows he has a “good problem” ahead of the SEA Games.“It&#x27;s a good problem. Medyo nahihirapan kaming coaching staff to evaluate, kasi gustong-gusto maglaro at magpakita (ng lahat), and that’s what we want, the best in them and the best among them,” he shared.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/04/12/23/filipinas-showcase-growth-improvement-in-rout-of-hk">Football: Filipinas showcase growth, improvement in rout of Hong Kong</a></li></ul>This week, the squad practiced with 17 players available, headlined by Jack Danielle Animam who just wrapped up her stint with French side USO Mondeville.Aquino expects more from the U18 roster like Kristan Yumul, Kate Bobadilla, and University of the Philippines commit Louna Ozar to join them soon.“We’re just hoping we continue to build on this progress para at least we can try to bring the best and get the third gold medal,” Aquino said.The defending two-time gold medalists in five-on-five basketball will play with targets on their backs, knowing they have set the standard in the regional competition over the past four years.For Clarin, it is a challenge the nationals will have to embrace, knowing their rivals work double-time to dethrone them.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/04/12/23/mga-pinoy-wagi-sa-kun-bokator-championship-sa-cambodia">Mga atletang Pinoy, wagi sa kauna-unahang Kun Bokator Championship sa Cambodia</a></li></ul>“We definitely have a lot of adjustments to make still, of course we have the gold medal, we’re the reigning champions, people are adjusting all their offenses and defenses to beat us, we have to do the same,” she said.“Bring something new in the SEA Games, we’re just working on what will work best with the players we have right now, and what we show at the SEA Games, hopefully it’s something other teams have not seen before and will take us to the finals.”Chemistry wouldn’t be that much of a worry, as the core group has been together for several years.“We didn’t have everyone until last week, so we’re still building up on each other but the core group of people, we’ve had that since the last couple of years and that’s through losses and wins so I think the experience we all have, it’s easy for us to come together towards one goal,” Clarin added.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/sports/04/11/23/ph-womens-volleyball-team-determinado-para-sa-sea-games-medal">PH women&#x27;s volleyball team determinado para sa SEA Games medal</a></li></ul>The way Aquino wants things done precisely as told is a reflection of how in the grander scale, he wants his players to walk the talk.In the end, when the SEA Games tips off, Gilas Women has no one to beat but themselves to win three golds in a row.“I’m not really pressuring you but that’s having you to come out and bring out the best in you every time,” he said. “I hope we can do it again. I know it’s a hard task ahead of us, but for the country, it’s an honor, so we are going to do our very best.”<div>RELATED VIDEO</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2582851" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Not even the finest of details escape the observant eyes of Gilas Pilipinas Women head coach Patrick Aquino.