Gilas players vow to go hard on PBA-bound Pacquiao

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas players intend to go hard on boxing idol Manny Pacquiao to test his competence in their coming PBA encounters.

If Pacquiao is not good enough to play pro ball, Gilas players said they would make Pacquiao feel it for his own good and the dignity of professional basketball players.

No one seems to be excited to play the eight-division boxing champ on the hard court.

“We have talked a lot about that in Spain. The concession is that if Pacquiao can really play, well and good. If not, he can expect the toughest baptism of fire in his life,” said Gary David.

“As for myself, I really intend to defend him very hard in the event we’re matched up with one another. Jayson (Castro) and LA (Tenorio) were saying they will steal the ball on him,” David also said.

The Gilas players insist they’re not against Pacquiao playing in the PBA if he’s really competent to play pro ball.

“If not, that’s the problem. Don’t expect us to go easy on him,” said a Gilas veteran.

“We don’t want a bad precedent set. We’re thinking after him, there might be those rich basketball-crazy guys, not really deserving, saying ‘pwede pa lang pasukin ang PBA ng ganon-ganon lang eh. Sali na rin ako dyan,’” the same player said.

“The bottom line is that we want to protect our profession. We want only the deserving guys to be in there,” another Gilas player said.

“Of course, we have our own reputation to protect. I can’t allow Manny to shoot on me. I will block his shots,” said yet another Gilas player. “What if he keeps shooting on me or on everyone, we face the consequence of sitting on the bench.”

The other PBA players should have the same thing in mind so Pacquiao must really prepare himself the best he can before pushing through with his plan to play pro ball.

There’s no word yet on when does Pacquiao plan to make his PBA debut since he’s busy promoting his November fight against Chris Algieri.

If plans don’t miscarry, the PBA is holding the opening of its grand 40th season at the 50,000-seater Philippine Arena in Bocaue in October, pitting Kia Motors versus Blackwater then Barangay Ginebra against Talk n Text.

With Pacquiao busy on his boxing commitment, assistant coach Glenn Capacio is the main man handling Kia’s buildup for its PBA debut.

Kia is still in the process of forming its team to be led by playing coach Pacquiao, the 11th pick overall in the last PBA draft.