Next Gilas practice a question mark

MANILA, Philippines — Gilas head coach Chot Reyes said the other day nothing is set as to when he can call in PBA players for the first Gilas practice to prepare for the second window of the first round of the Asia/Pacific home-and-away qualifiers for the 2019 FIBA World Cup on Feb. 19-27.

The deadline to submit the initial 24-man roster is Feb. 5 or 14 days before the period that FIBA set for the second window. The final 12-man lineup will be turned in on the eve of each of the two games during the technical meeting. That leaves over a month for Reyes to confer with the PBA on how much time he has with recruits.

Under the terms of the MOA between the SBP and PBA, Gilas can bring in cadets to start training 60 days and veterans 15 days before a sanctioned competition. But with the cadets now entering their second year in the pros, they’re now considered veterans. There are no cadets left in the Gilas pool. Another provision in the MOA is Reyes may recruit a cadet and a veteran from each PBA team. Now that no cadets remain, it’s not certain if Reyes may choose two veterans per team.  It appears that the MOA requires a revisit.

Reyes said he’s in the dark as to how to plan for the second window at the moment. “I don’t know yet,” he said. “Things will depend on discussions with the PBA.” The Philippines’ first game in the second window will be against Australia at the Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne on Feb. 22.

From Melbourne, Gilas will fly back to Manila on Feb. 23, rest, recover and put in some practice time before going up against Japan at home on Feb. 25. The flight from Melbourne to Manila is 8 1/2 hours long.

The PBA has no game scheduled on Feb. 25, a Sunday, so it will clear the day for Gilas’ home stand against Japan.  If JuneMar Fajardo and Calvin Abueva are on the national team, they will miss games involving their PBA teams on Feb. 23 when Alaska takes on Rain Or Shine and San Miguel Beer faces Kia at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

If Reyes names his 24-man pool on deadline day, Feb, 5, it will mean less than three weeks of practice before the Australia game.  Both the Philippines and Australia are unbeaten in Group B with two wins each.

Australian national coach Andrej Lemanis and Reyes met during the FIBA World Cup draw in Barcelona in 2014.  There’s mutual respect between the mentors.  Lemanis, 48, has been the Boomers head coach since 2013.  For eight seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL), he coached the New Zealand Breakers and led the club to three titles.

FIBA Central Board member Burton Shipley of New Zealand said he witnessed Lemanis’ rise from obscurity to prominence.  “In his early years with the Breakers, Andrej had losing streaks of 10 games one season and 11 in another,” said Shipley.  “But I never lost hope.  I sent him over to spend three days with Canterbury rugby coach Robbie Deans and that created a turnaround.”  Lemanis became a two-time NBL Coach of the Year then joined the Boomers coaching staff initially as an assistant.

The Philippines and Japan are the only Group B countries that play home-and-away in each of the three windows in the first round.  Australia will play back-to-back home games against Gilas on Feb. 22 and Chinese-Taipei on Feb. 25 in the second window.  Chinese-Taipei will also play back-to-back home games against Gilas on June 29 and Japan on July 2 in the third window.