Next month, 32 countries will
send their men’s national basketball teams to China, where from the last day of
August until the middle of September they will battle it out on hard-courts
across 8 venue cities for global basketball supremacy under the auspices of the
International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Not only is national pride on the
line, but also a chance to qualify their teams for another international event,
the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics next year. The Philippines’ own GILAS is looking
to go as far as it can in this FIBA World Cup to make up for losing its 2019
hosting bid to China.
According to CNN Philippines, it appears Gilas Pilipinas has gotten its player
pool for the FIBA Basketball World Cup finalized. On Monday, July 15 the
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) listed 19 names on the pool, all top
players from most PBA teams and some heavy-duty import talent. One name in
particular stands out, that being of half-Filipino NBA player Jordan Clarkson.
The SBP has been coy on whether or not they have secured the current Cleveland Cavalier
for another national-team outing following his 2018 Asian Games participation,
where he secured for the Philippines its highest finish in 16 years by beating
Syria for fifth.
Bayan! Your #GilasPilipinas Pool who will go all in #ParaSaBayan! #SBP #LabanPilipinas #FIBAWC pic.twitter.com/6GQ4fTdgD6— SBP (@officialSBPinc) July 15, 2019
The rest of the names in the
Gilas pool for the Basketball World Cup are as follows: Andray Blatche
(currently with the Tianjin Gold Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association), PBA
mainstays Japeth Aguilar (Ginebra), Raymond Almazan (Meralco), Mark Barroca
(Magnolia), Robert Bolick (NorthPort), John Paul Erram (NLEX), June Mar Fajardo
and Marcio Lassiter (San Miguel). Then there are Paul Lee (Magnolia), Gabe
Norwood (Rain or Shine), C.J. Perez (Columbian), Roger Pogoy and Troy Rosario (TNT),
Kiefer Ravena (NLEX), and Matthew Wright (Phoenix). A majority of them are
national team and FIBA World Cup veterans, joined by newcomers Beau Belga (Rain
or Shine), Stanley Pringle (Ginebra) and Christian Standhardinger (San Miguel),
as listed by SBP.
Reaction to the Gilas Pilipinas
player pool on the SBP’s official Twitter page has been cautiously positive.
There are some questions as to why other PBA notables like Terrence Romeo and
Bobby Ray Parks Jr., as well as concerns about Jordan Clarkson’s import playing
status with regards to the NBA. But with the 19 names on the list, forming a
final roster for the national team will not be too troublesome. Gilas is
bracketed in Group D, facing Serbia, Angola and Italy for its initial foray
into the 2019 FIBA World Cup, happening in China August 31 to September 16.
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