Guiao hopes Slaughter gets cleared
COACH Yeng Guiao said he hopes that Greg Slaughter would be cleared to play for Gilas Pilipinas as a local.
Despite being part of the original Gilas program, Slaughter’s eligibility became a subject of uncertainty, considering that he participated in a tournament sanctioned by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) with an interesting case.
Gilas 1.0 participated in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, but it was more of a club tournament rather than an event pitting national teams.
Also, the tourney gives teams an option to bring in a maximum of two foreign reinforcements, further complicating matters.
For now, the only way for the seven- foot Fil- American center to be named a local is by showing necessary documents proving that he got a Philippine passport before he turned 16.
“If we’re not able to complete the documents of Greg, lalong hihirap ang situation natin ( our situation will become worse) because we have to choose between these three guys ( Slaughter, Stanley Pringle, and Chris Standhardinger) on who we will designate as our naturalized player,” Guiao said.
For his part, Slaughter said he is working on getting the needed papers in time.
“I just gotta get some documents back in the (United) States,” the current Ginebra beanpole said.
Slaughter’s case hindered Guiao from naming his “Final 12” for Gilas’ FIBA World Cup Qualifiers game against Iran in Tehran on September 13.
“We have to be certain of the situation of Greg, Christian, and Stanley,” Guiao said in explaining his decision to delay the naming a bit.
While making Slaughter eligible is feasible right now, Guiao remains positive that Pringle and Standhardinger will be allowed to play as locals too.
“We hope we can make them play as local Filipinos,” Guiao added.