Cage body asserts importance of Asia Cup

MANILA, Philippines - SBP executive director Sonny Barrios said yesterday the Philippines is being counted on to put its best foot forward in representing Southeast Asia in the first-ever FIBA Asia Cup under the new expanded regional set-up where Australia and New Zealand will compete for the continental championship in Zouk Mosbeh, 12 kilometers north of Beirut, on Aug. 8-20.

Barrios attended a FIBA workshop in Singapore last weekend and a priority item in the agenda was the FIBA Asia Cup. FIBA Asia president Sheikh Saud bin Ali Al-Thani of Qatar, FIBA Asia executive director Hagop Khajirian of Lebanon, FIBA Oceania and FIBA Singapore executive director David Crocker of New Zealand and SEABA president and FIBA Central Board member Erick Thohir of Indonesia took turns explaining the importance of the tournament.

“The FIBA Asia Cup used to be known as the FIBA Asia Championships but with FIBA’s new initiatives, it became appropriate to make a name change,” said Barrios. “We recognize the prestige of winning the gold medal in basketball at the Asian Games. Actually, the gold medal in the FIBA Asia Cup is more prestigious because of the expanded zone with Australia and New Zealand. As Mr. Thohir mentioned, the Philippines is the pambato ng SEABA and expected to be at the forefront of the competition.”

Barrios said SBP chairman emeritus and FIBA Central Board member Manny V. Pangilinan has issued marching orders to bring back Andray Blatche as the country’s naturalized player for the FIBA Asia Cup. “We want to put up a strong showing because our performance will be reflected in our world ranking which is a basis for future draws,” said Barrios. “We also hope to gauge the competition looking forward to the home-and-away qualifiers for the World Cup.” The Philippines took second place in the last two FIBA Asia Championships, behind Iran in 2013 and China in 2015, but under the new expanded set-up, the challenge is for Gilas to remain a title contender.

Barrios said under the terms of the Memorandum of Agreement between the SBP and PBA, it is clear that the pro league will “automatically and unconditionally” cede the rookie cadets and veterans to Gilas in elite international competitions, including the FIBA Asia Cup. The timetable, however, is different as the cadets will be released 60 days before a competition and the veterans, 15 days. 

“In the MOA, it is stated that national interest is the primordial concern of both the PBA and SBP with regard to forming the Philippine team,” said Barrios. “The terms are very explicit. There is nothing in the MOA that stipulates an out-clause in case a tournament is not a qualifying competition for the World Cup or Olympics. It’s really a matter of complying with what are the terms of the MOA. All those ‘whereas’ provisions set the tone for the agreement with the elite international tournaments singled out as the competitions where the SBP and PBA will be involved in.”

Barrios said he’s not aware that some PBA teams are holding back in releasing players for the FIBA Asia Cup. “I know that the understanding is the SBP will simply inform the PBA of the players in the pool, that’s it,” he said. “No clearance necessary because we’re all guided by the MOA which finally does away with the previous case-to-case system where some teams may choose to lend players and some may choose not to. I don’t think the release of players is subject to negotiation anymore under the terms of the MOA.”