Gilas eligible to win PBA title

MANILA, Philippines — The door is open for Gilas to play as a guest team in the PBA Philippine Cup which is tentatively set to start April 9 and commissioner Willie Marcial said the other day the national squad will be eligible to compete for the championship. In the PBA’s 45-year history, two guest entries, Nicholas Stoodley and Northern Consolidated, have won titles. Jerry Weber coached Stoodley to the 1980 Invitational crown while Ron Jacobs took Northern to the 1985 Reinforced throne.

If Gilas decides to join the Philippine Cup, Marcial said the schedule will be tweaked for 13 teams. Marcial added that deputy commissioner Eric Castro has been tasked to plot the sequence of games. “Depende ‘yan sa Gilas kung walang conflict sa training at competition,” said Marcial. “Open invitation ng PBA Board para maglaro ang Gilas sa Philippine Cup at ibang conference.” The PBA’s invitation is in line with SBP’s goal of providing exposure to high-level competition for the national team.

If conditions allow, Gilas may train abroad to prepare for the FIBA Asia Cup in Jakarta on Aug. 16-28. But if travel restrictions persist, Gilas could gain valuable court experience playing in the PBA. If Gilas plays in the Philippine Cup, it will be allowed to suit up the entire roster, including Ivory Coast’s Angelo Kouame, whose naturalization is now under process in Congress.

Without PBA players, Gilas’ pool consists of five PBA special draft picks (Isaac Go, Rey Suerte, Matt Nieto, Allyn Bulanadi, Mike Nieto), this year’s three PBA special draft picks (Jaydee Tungcab, Jordan Heading, Tzaddy Rangel), Kouame and players who haven’t applied for the PBA draft like Dwight Ramos, Justine Baltazar, Juan and Javi Gomez de Liaño, Thirdy Ravena, Sean Ildefonso, Kemark Cariño and Kobe Paras. Gilas’ participation in the PBA will mean a comeback for head coach Jong Uichico who has won nine league titles with San Miguel Beer (six), Barangay Ginebra (two) and TNT (one). When schedules permit, the Gilas draft picks may revert to their PBA mother teams so they’re kept active.