COACH Norman Black is not leaving any stone unturned, forming the best team possible as the country seeks to retain the throne in men’s basketball in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand in December.
The next SEA Games is only three months away, and Black, always a key figure with the Philippine team and a multi-titled coach in the PBA, can feel the urgency to get things going as far as the formation of the team is concerned.
“Our preparations are going to be short that’s why we need to get guys who can play together very quickly and who can play together very well,” said Black in yesterday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the conference hall of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
Black, who coached the Philippine team led by collegiate stars Greg Slaughter, Kiefer Ravena, Chris Tiu and Ray Parks to the gold in the 2011 SEA Games in Jakarta, has encountered difficulty forming the squad due to conflicts of schedule for PBA players, collegiate players and those playing as imports in Japan and Korea.
But Black, who was accompanied to the forum by Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Erika Dy, assured everybody that once the team is formed, “we will be ready.”
Dy spoke mainly of the SBP programs for the remainder of the year, and that includes further promoting the sport in public schools in collaboration with the Department of Education through Secretary Sonny Angara and the Philippine Sports Commission through chairman Patrick Gregorio.
“Hopefully, we will be signing a memorandum of agreement soon,” said Dy.
“It’s gonna be tough. It’s not gonna be easy. But we still have the talent to win the Southeast Asian Games,” said Black during the forum presented by San Miguel Corporation, Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, Milo, Smart/PLDT, and the country’s 24/7 sports app Arena Plus.
Black said already in the fold are naturalized players Justin Brownlee, who helped Gilas win the gold in the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia, and Ange Kouame.
Others who have committed to play are Parks, Matthew Wright, Remy Martin, Dave Ildefonso, Jason Brickman and Veejay Pre.
Black said winning the gold this time will be far different than when his team won the SEA Games gold 14 years ago in Jakarta.
“It’s a lot different now. Things have changed in how teams are recruiting players now. Things are different in the sense that everybody has improved in Southeast Asia,” he said.
“But the goal will definitely be to win the gold,” said Black, adding that once the initial pool of players is formed, he will call for practices on Mondays and prior to departure for Thailand, the team will do eight to nine straight days of practice.
“There’s a lot of work to be done,” he said.
