CHOT Reyes has been calling the shots as full time head coach of TNT, but there's no doubt that he's still very much involved, even in a nonofficial capacity with Gilas under coach Tim Cone.

You see, Cone used to serve as one of Reyes' key deputies during Gilas' gold medal redemption in last year's Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, followed by the national squad's FIBA World Cup stint in Manila months later.

Both grizzled veteran coaches have shared a lot of ups and downs, dating back to their younger days in Alaska when Reyes used to serve as one of Cone's assistants during the early 1990s.

Reyes said since stepping down from Gilas coaching and seeing the transition to Cone, he's just happy to see a continuity of the national program as the Philippines vie for an Olympic slot in the Qualifying tournament in Riga, Latvia this July.

"Tim and I are always talking. He was just here in my house a couple weeks back," Reyes said in a guest appearance at former PBA commissioner Noli Eala's sports program Power and Play last Saturday.

"You can see that even in the choice of the players, all of the players in Tim's team right now were all in our (Gilas) team (before) whether it's the SEA Games, the World Cup team, whatever. It's very clear in Tim's mind, he's continuing the program, the relationships of the players. There's nothing new among the players."

If there's any change Reyes said he expects to be implemented, it's really more of the tactics and approach to the games.

"Obviously in terms of strategies and tactics, that's different because that's Tim. But in terms of direction and program, we're very happy that Tim is doing a really good job so in that sense, I'm still connected," explained the 59-year-old TNT mentor.

The nine-time PBA champion coach said in the run up to the 2024 Olympic Qualifying tournament, he'll expect Cone to make some adjustments, particularly on personnel issues given injuries, or potential schedule conflicts.

Reyes reasoned that keeping a 12-man roster intact wouldn't be possible due to a number of variables that could affect a team any time.