Torch is passed

A new era in Gilas history will unfold as the Philippine national basketball team moves forward in its quest for glory after failing to claim a ticket to Rio at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament that ends at the MOA Arena tonight.

Ranidel de Ocampo, 34, and Jayson Castro, 30, have announced their retirement from Gilas in an emotional ending to a storybook international career that included stints at the 2011, 2013 and 2015 FIBA Asia Championships and the 2014 FIBA World Cup.  De Ocampo was used sparingly in the Olympic qualifier but Castro couldn’t ask for more playing time, logging 25:57 minutes in scoring 14 points against France and 24:52 in tallying 13 against New Zealand.

Maybe, it was the disappointment of not winning a single game at the qualifier before the homecrowd or the wear and tear on his body. Whatever the reason, Castro may want to rethink his decision.  There’s no better point guard in Asia and he’s still at the peak of his game.  Surely, he’ll learn from the experience of matching up against Tony Parker and Corey Webster in Manila.  

Curiously, Castro’s name was omitted in the lineup of Gilas players in the official FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament media guide. A 13-man roster was listed, including L. A. Tenorio and Calvin Abueva.  Yet, he’s on the cover of the media guide.   In the 12-page FIBA booklet explaining the new competition system and calendar distributed to media the other day, Castro was ironically shown as the face of Philippine basketball.

The other Gilas players who are 30 and over are Marc Pingris, 34, Jeff Chan, 32, Ryan Reyes, 32 and Gabe Norwood, 31. Tenorio is 31.  You wonder whether more will follow what De Ocampo and Castro did particularly as it appears the next generation of Gilas Cadets will begin to represent the country in the six qualifying windows leading to the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

In the Gilas Cadets pool are included Troy Rosario, 24; Kevin Ferrer, 23; R. R. Pogoy, 23; Mac Belo, 23; Russell Escoto, 23; Raymar Jose, 23; Mike Tolomia, 23; Jiovani Jalalon, 23 and Von Pessumal, 23.  There may be other collegiate stars drafted to the pool.  Bobby Ray Parks, 23, may or may not be included, depending on his plans to pursue his NBA dream.  PBA player Almond Vosotros, 17-year-old Jonas Tibayan and 6-9 Ken Holmqvist were in the Cadets squad that recently bagged the SEABA Stankovic Cup crown in Bangkok but their status is unconfirmed.  Vosotros is now a pro while Tibayan and Holmqvist are still working on gaining experience.

The collegiate stars in the Cadets pool will reportedly be available for the next PBA draft on Oct. 31 but while their signing rights may be assigned, they are unable to play in the pro league for at least four years or one Olympic cycle unless cut from the national team.

At the moment, the Philippines is committed to play in the 10-team FIBA Asia Challenge scheduled in Iran on Sept. 9-18. The top five placers of the FIBA Asia Challenge will determine how many teams in a zone will play at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup where the top 14 will advance to compete in the home-and-away series starting in November next year on the way to qualifying for the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China.  There will be 16 teams in the home-and-away series with FIBA Asia assigning two more from the initial cast of 14 that will qualify from the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup.

The new competition format will involve national teams playing on a regular basis throughout the year. The first home-and-away window will be in November 2017. Other windows are scheduled in February, June, September and November in 2018 and February in 2019. The process will identify the 32 qualifiers for the 2019 FIBA World Cup with seven from the Asia-Oceania region, seven from the Americas, 12 from Europe and five from Africa. One slot will be allocated for China as host country. In effect, there will be eight teams from the Asia-Oceania zone.

Because of this set-up, the SBP has no choice but to deploy a pool of players outside of the PBA. If Gilas continues to borrow players from the PBA, it will be a strain on their mother clubs and counterproductive for the pro league which has investors to protect. The Cadets will try to buy time in hurdling the initial qualifying windows but when the critical stages come, it may be necessary to bring in PBA reinforcements. JuneMar Fajardo, 26; Greg Slaughter, 28; Terrence Romeo, 24; Abueva, 28; Parks, 23 and Marcio Lassiter, 29, would be valuable reinforcements when the time comes.

As for a naturalized player, Andray Blatche could be tapped when necessary and if available, perhaps for the next World Cup. Meantime, Fil-Ams who were issued their Filipino passports before turning 16 could be enlisted as naturalized players, according to FIBA rules. So that would mean choosing one player from a separate pool that could include Jordan Clarkson, Mo Tautuaa and Stanley Pringle.

Gilas head coach Tab Baldwin has a mandate to pilot the national squad until the next Olympics so his mission has a long-term perspective. With what Gilas showed in the Olympic qualifier, there is reason to be upbeat for the future. The glaring deficiency in Gilas is lack of experience in playing top-caliber national teams on a global stage. Against France and New Zealand, the Philippines was competitive and came close to winning but couldn’t execute in the homestretch. With experience, Gilas will know what to do under similar conditions in the not-so-distant future.