Splitting resources

A conflict in schedule looms with the FIBA Asia Cup set in Beirut on Aug. 15-27 and the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games to be held in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 19-31. That would mean splitting Gilas’ manpower resources to cover both tournaments. Not only players will be divided to fill the slots for both national teams but also the coaches.

Last Sunday, SBP president Al Panlilio and PBA commissioner Chito Narvasa announced the composition of the new 24-man Gilas pool. Gilas head coach Chot Reyes also named Jong Uichico, Jimmy Alapag and Josh Reyes as assistant coaches with Tab Baldwin back in a consultant’s role. Baldwin was Reyes’ consultant when Gilas took second place at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championships and played at the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain so they’ve worked well together in the past.

The 24-man pool has an average age of 25.4 years. In contrast, the average age of the Gilas squad that saw action at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament here last year was 30. In the FIBA OQT, the Philippines’ average height was 6-5 with Jayson Castro the only player below six feet at 5-10. Andray Blatche was in the lineup and his ceiling of 6-11 had a lot to do with boosting the average height. In the 24-man pool, there are four players under six feet – Castro, 5-10 Ed Daquioag, 5-9 Jio Jalalon and 5-8 L. A. Revilla – and Blatche isn’t included so the average height is only 6-2 3/4. The average age and height will adjust when the final 12-man lineups for the FIBA Asia Cup and SEA Games are finalized.

Only two players are in their 30s in the pool – Castro and Japeth Aguilar who turns 30 today. Three are 23 so it’ll be a long Gilas journey ahead for Mac Belo, Kevin Ferrer and Von Pessumal.

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Panlilio said the 24-man pool is “a work in progress,” meaning there may be drop-outs, withdrawals and additions along the way for whatever reason. Players may get injured or don’t fit or can’t adjust to their roles or back out. Surely, there are more players who could easily step up and crack the roster like former nationals Marcio Lassiter, L. A. Tenorio, Gabe Norwood, Marc Pingris, J. C. Intal and Troy Rosario. They’ll be waiting in the wings for a call. 

Narvasa said with the Memorandum of Agreement between the SBP and PBA, it’s settled that the national team will be made up of pros. That’s a key reason why the PBA held a special draft for the Gilas Cadets last year so all the players in the pool could come from the pro league. The understanding rules out Bobby Ray Parks or Kiefer Ravena from playing for Gilas unless they go through the PBA draft.

Panlilio said aside from the Gilas rookies, each PBA club agreed to cede one more player to the pool. However, the agreement is a minimum of one more player and silent on a limit. That opens the door for any team to cede more players to the pool if they’re tapped for duty by Reyes. TNT’s PBA governor Ricky Vargas was recently quoted as saying that Reyes is free to choose as many players as he requires from the KaTropa for Gilas.  

For the FIBA Asia Cup which will feature Australia and New Zealand, the Philippines must be represented by the best of the best to suit Reyes’ system. To split the resources, Reyes could be joined by Uichico and Baldwin in Beirut while Josh Reyes could call the shots in the SEA Games with Alapag. Other assistants may be assigned to beef up their staff.

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Here’s a hypothetical 12-man lineup for the FIBA Asia Cup – Blatche, Aguilar, Terrence Romeo, JuneMar Fajardo, Paul Lee, Castro, Calvin Abueva, Kevin Ferrer, Daquioag, Matthew Wright, Bradwyn Guinto and Pessumal. This cast has an average height of 6-3 and average age of 26.3 years. For the SEA Games, a possible 12-man cast could be Mo Tautuaa (although a legitimate Fil-foreigner, he is allowed to play only as a naturalized citizen because his Philippine passport was issued after he turned 16), Raymond Almazan, Jalalon, Jonathan Grey, Russel Escoto, Belo, De la Cruz, Cruz, Revilla, Arnold Van Opstal, Norbert Torres and Roger Pogoy with Fonzo Gotladera as alternate.

At the 2015 SEA Games, Baldwin was Gilas’ head coach with Alapag and Nash Racela as assistants. The players were Ravena, Rosario, Scottie Thompson, Baser Amer, Glenn Khobuntin, Almond Vosotros, Torres, naturalized player Marcus Douthit, Belo, Jalalon, Ferrer and Prince Rivero. The Philippines was unbeaten in five outings, defeating Indonesia, 81-52, Malaysia, 100-48 and Timor Leste, 126-21 in the group stage before repulsing Thailand, 80-75, in the semifinals and Indonesia, 72-64, in the final. Even with Douthit, it wasn’t a cakewalk for the Philippines in the playoffs.

Training for the FIBA Asia Cup and SEA Games should be in synch since both teams are expected to use the same dribble-drive system. It would mean double the expense if there is international training involved. Once the new FIBA competition system kicks in with the first home-and-away series in November, Reyes will make the tough decision of which players to compose the Gilas lineup with the 2017-18 PBA season already underway by then.