THEY will soldier on.
Talks of a possible pullout from the cage tourney of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China have been in the grapevine for some days now amid the cloud of uncertainty on the eligibility of four Gilas Pilipinas players–Calvin Abueva, Jason Perkins, Terrence Romeo, and Mo Tautuaa.
But interim national coach Tim Cone and his charges won’t quit.
“We’ve heard that the answer is ‘no’ (appeal to the organizers). Five days ago, we were told that there was another list that was submitted, a list of 37 players, and Mo, Terrence and (Stanley) Pringle were not on that list,” Cone said yesterday in a hastily arranged press conference at the PBA Office in Libis, Quezon City.
“We were given a list of 60 players, 30 of which were PBA players. The other half were players from Japan, UAAP, and NCAA. So, that was the list in which we first worked on,” he added.
Putting up what pro league chairman Ricky Vargas described as “Plan B,” Cone announced that he has tapped Chris Ross, Kevin Alas, Arvin Tolentino, and CJ Perez as back-ups if and when the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee thumbs down the inclusion of Abueva, Perkins, Romeo, and Tautuaa.
The initial 60-player list turned in by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas was trimmed down to an option of 37– with only eight cagers available due to injuries and overseas commitments.
The eight were Tolentino, Ross, Perez, Alas, Christian Standhardinger, JP Erram, Aaron Black, and Marcio Lassiter.
Standhardinger has retired from national team duties while Erram and Black are out with injuries.
Lassiter will suit up for the Philippine five in lieu of Roger Pogoy, who failed to get a medical clearance.
“I felt that we needed more balance in the line-up. So, I requested, if possible, to include Calvin Abueva and Jason Perkins on that list,” Cone, who was joined in the press conference by Vargas, SBP President Al Panlilio, PBA chief Willie Marcial, vice chairman Bobby Rosales, and SMC sports director and Gilas team manager Alfrancis Chua.
“In the beginning it was like, ‘Yeah, we should be able to do that. It shouldn’t be a problem’.”
Lassiter, Perez, Ross, Alas, and Tolentino have already shown up in the Filipino cagers’ training camp at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna.
The Asiad organizers’ final decision on who can play for Gilas will be known today or tomorrow.
