By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Former Gilas Pilipinas chief tactician Yeng Guiao suggested that it would be best for the country to naturalize more foreign players compared to just one.
The veteran PBA coach said that the Philippine Congress should act fast and prioritize the naturalization of more foreign players if they really want to win in the international stage.
In the past stints Gilas had in the FIBA World Cup, Andray Blatche was the only naturalized player and it all revolved in a one-sided option of dumping the ball to Blatche and let him work.
With coach Guiao’s suggestion, more naturalized players mean more options to choose from where you can pick a different naturalized player who can do more against what the opposing team employs.
“Hindi naman kailangan ng isa diyan. When I say three or four, sama na natin diyan si Justin Brownlee, si Ange Kouame, sama na natin si Chris McCollough… Kung sino man kailangan natin,” Guiao said.
Brownlee and McCollough, two of the best scorers the PBA has ever seen, showed interest in being included in the naturalized pool players of the country.
Meanwhile, Kouame, the Ivorian center currently playing under coach Tab Baldwin for the Ateneo Blue Eagles, was already included in the naturalized player pool.
“Let’s not put our eggs in one basket kasi sa congress puwede naman nila gawin ‘yun, and a lot of other countries are doing that,” Guiao added.
