BACK to square one.
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas chairman emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan admitted the Gilas Pilipinas national team program was left in tatters after key players chose greener pastures overseas.
“Japan has been taking players away from us. Iyong mga players, anong ginagawa dito?
These guys are built to race, to run, to compete. They’ve been lying fallows for more than a year so I can sympathize, why wouldn’t I want to play elsewhere and earn money?” Pangilinan posed on the television show The Chiefs.
“We have that problem regardless of who the coach will be. I know that there’s February window that we have to deal with, but even in my discussions with Tab sometime in late-January, there was an issue outstanding of sinong players ang available?” he added.
With nearly three weeks before the Filipino cagers plunge into action in the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, the SBP handed Chot Reyes the reins of the Nationals anew, a move seemingly ill-advised since Tab Baldwin has been running the show for the squad for the last three years.
Gilas will tackle South Korea on Feb. 24 and 28, India on Feb. 25, and New Zealand on Feb. 27.
The chief backer of Gilas insisted players’ availability will pose a big problem to whoever is at the helm of the team.
“There are a number of Gilas players in the past under him who have signified their intention that they would, most of them have been drafted in the PBA, and gusto na nila maglaro sa PBA,” Pangilinan said.
“So, that issue is a constant regardless of who the coach is. We’ll still have that issue if Tab remains because he lost people in Japan, and he’ll lose people in the PBA.”
