Gilas to deploy all-cadets squad for FIBA qualifier and OQT

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

 

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) confirmed that there will be no PBA player present in the Gilas Pilipinas roster that will participate in the FIBA qualifier window and the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Serbia.

SBP president Al Panlilio explained that with the fast-approaching season of the PBA, there will be not enough time for practice and chemistry build-up if they will include the pros in the lineup.

“If you take a look at it, if we want to start training even as early as this month and the PBA will start its conference this season in April and this will go all the way to July 4 which is the last day of the OQT, it will completely descale the calendar of the PBA,” said Panlilio.

Previously, netizens and some basketball analysts in the country commented that some PBA players with experience in the international stage should represent the country.

Chriss Ross, San Miguel Beermen’s star point guard, shared that Gilas Pilipinas should form the best possible team because a ticket to the playoffs isn’t just an ordinary experience.

However, with the conflict that the PBA schedule posed, Panlilio and the SBP thought that there will still be no problems sticking to the all-cadets team especially that they are eyeing the cadets to become Gilas’ long-term team that will be honed from start to finish.

“I think we have time to put up a plan of an entirely non-PBA team using the five that we already drafted last year and the four this year. That’s nine. And if you put the name of Ange Koaume there, potentially also Kai Sotto and some of the college players which we will be working on with the schools, I think we can come up with 20 if not 25 names that can enter the bubble as early as the end of the month to start the training,” added Panlilio.

The presence of Gilas cadets’ mainstays Juan and Javi de Liaño, Matt and Mike Nieto, Isaac Go, Dwight Ramos, Justine Baltazar, and Rey Suerte are expected to lead the pack.