Followers of basketball in the
Philippines, both national pros and international “amateurs,” are aware that
there is a special relationship between the Philippine Basketball Association
(PBA) and the men’s national basketball team aka Gilas Pilipinas. Arguably
Gilas can be at its strongest player potential whenever the PBA lends some of
its best in time for the squad to go overseas to compete. With the FIBA Asia
Cup coming this August, Gilas once it passes qualifiers will need to practice
with the best. And as the national league is planning to start the season with
its first conference in April, they are offering Gilas intense training.
According to CNN Philippines the PBA is offering to include Gilas Pilipinas as a
guest team for the Philippine Cup, the first conference in the league’s 2021-22
season. PBA commissioner Willie Marcial has extended the invite, saying it will
help the national team’s players gain experience against pro-level opposition, better
to prepare them for the FIBA Asia Cup and other future international basketball
tilts. This is not actually the first time Gilas has played in the PBA; in 2009
the initial roster of the squad to carry the Gilas name did participate as a
guest.
The proposal has been met with
open arms by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), as its president Al
Panlilio has noted how past Gilas rosters did benefit from getting to play
against established PBA teams. The country’s national sport association for
basketball has expressed willingness to discuss the matter further, as soon as
the team returns from the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers in Doha,
Qatar, which runs from February 18 to 22. Given that the actual Cup in Jakarta
is four months from the start of the PBA Philippine Cup there should be plenty
of playing time for Gilas should they join in the conference.
At present, the core Gilas
Pilipinas roster is composed of five players picked in a special draft from
2019. A second draft has been scheduled by the SBP this coming March 14, the
names to be included in which will be submitted sometime this week. Among the
possible draftees is Kai Sotto, who returned to the Philippines after taking
leave from his NBA G-League team. A second name is Angelo Kouame from the Ivory
Coast, for which legislation to confer him Filipino citizenship, House Bill
8632, has passed on the second reading in the House of Representatives, with a
positive third reading more than likely.
Image courtesy of Inquirer.net
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