Batang Gilas names 24-man pool, too

MANILA, Philippines – Not to be outdone by the senior men’s team, Batang Gilas has its own 24-man pool and interim head coach Mike Oliver will open training camp at the Meralco Gym tonight in preparation for the SEABA U16 Championships.

The Philippines was given the go-signal by FIBA Asia to host the SEABA tournaments for men, U16 and women this year. The plan is to stage the men and U16 competitions simultaneously but in different locations on April 23-30. The women’s joust is scheduled on May 16-20 and will likely be held in Manila with either the Mall of Asia Arena or the Smart Araneta Coliseum as the venue.

From early indications, it appears that the men’s tournament will be held at the Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu. The U16 event will be staged somewhere in Luzon, probably outside of Metro Manila. The previous SEABA U16 edition in 2015 was held in Cagayan de Oro.

“We plan to bring the men and U16 tournaments outside of Manila so our kababayan in the provinces may also experience the excitement of international basketball competition,” said Batang Gilas team manager Andrew Teh. “It will be difficult to hold the tournaments in the same place because we lack gyms for all the different teams to practice in. We’ll separate the two.”

Last Sunday, SBP president Al Panlilio and PBA commissioner Chito Narvasa revealed the 24-man pool for the senior Gilas team. From the pool, Gilas head coach Chot Reyes will choose the players to suit up in the SEABA Championships. Losing isn’t an option because only the winner earns the right to represent the Southeast Asian sub-zone in the 16-team FIBA Asia Cup in Beirut on Aug. 15-27. The top 14 finishers of the FIBA Asia Cup will join two wildcards in the home-and-away series to determine the seven Asia/Oceania qualifiers for the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China.

Teh said multi-titled Adamson and Chiang Kai Shek high school coach Goldwin Monteverde is a hot candidate to call the shots for Batang Gilas. Oliver piloted Batang Gilas to its third straight SEABA U16 title in Cagayan de Oro in 2015 as the juniors hit 107.5 points and yielded 49.5 points a game with an average winning margin of 58. The Philippines beat Malaysia, 106-69, Thailand, 105-48, Brunei, 113-31 and Indonesia, 106-50. The team included Jonas Tibayan, Gian Mamuyac, SJ Belangel, Shaun Ildefonso, Will Gozum and Juan Gomez de Llano.

The 24-man Batang Gilas pool is composed of 6-9 Kai Sotto, 6-1 Miguel Santos, 5-8 Miggy Sahali, 5-11 J. C. Fetalvero, 5-11 Sael Lim, 6-6 Eddie Muke, 6-4 Lloyd Oliva, 6-0 J. R. Mutiangpili, 5-9 Vhenjo Maximo, 5-8 Lennox Valenzuela, 6-7 Carl Tamayo, 5-9 Gerry Abadiano, 5-9 Rence Padrigao, 5-8 Jeff Mailim, 6-0 Ahmad Hanapi, 5-10 Migs Pascual, 6-1 R. C. Calimag, 6-5 Raven Cortez, 5-10 Terrence Fortea, 6-1 King Sorela Balaga, 5-11 Kyle Bautista, 6-2 Rey Cabiling, 6-5 Eward Maagdenberg and Taine Davies.

The players are from Ateneo, La Salle Greenhills, Adamson, San Beda, National University, La Salle Zobel, FEU and overseas schools. Cabiling is from the US while Maagdenberg and Davies are from New Zealand.

Teh said 6-9, 14-year-old Fil-Australian Ethan Kirkness is back in Queensland and will not be available for the U16 competition. Kirkness was in Manila for six weeks during the Christmas holidays to train with Ateneo and San Beda. Another prospect, 6-9 Fil-Nigerian A. J. Edu is now 17 and will play for the Batang Gilas U18 team.

Reyes said he hopes to enlist Andray Blatche for the SEABA tournament but his availability depends on how far his team Xinjiang Flying Tigers advances in the Chinese Basketball Association. The playoffs are set on Feb. 25-March 24 and the finals on March 31-April 16. Assuming the Tigers go the full route, Blatche will have only a week to rejoin Gilas before the SEABA Championships begin on April 23.