Ross, Devance relish roles in SEAG squad
Fil-Ams Chris Ross and Joe Devance relish the opportunity to finally realize their long-time dreams of being part of Gilas Pilipinas.
San Miguel Beer’s Ross was named by coach Tim Cone to the 15-man pool to the Southeast Asian Games while Barangay Ginebra’s Devance was tapped as one of the assistant coaches.
“I didn’t have the chance to represent the country as a player so I take great honor in this opportunity,” said Devance, who’s currently recovering from injury.
Cone is banking on Devance in helping fast-track the teaching of his system to the Gilas pool made up of six Ginebra stalwarts and nine reinforcements from other PBA teams.
“I’ve been with coach Tim my whole career so I’m excited to team up with him as coach now,” said Devance, who joined a think tank that also included Alab Pilipinas mentor Jimmy Alapag and Jong Uichico.
Ross, who isn’t eligible as a local in Fiba-sanctioned tournaments because of rules requiring the acqusition of Philippine passport before the age of 16, is grateful for the chance to don the Gilas jersey at long last.
The 34-year-old Fil-Am can see action in the Southeast Asian Games and other multi-sports competitions as they have relaxed eligbility rules.
“I’ve accomplished pretty much everything I’ve wanted to do in my basketball career but there’s one thing lacking – the opportunity to play for Gilas one time in my career. So it’s a great blessing,” said the SMB guard.
“It’s an honor to just have my name with those 14 guys and I won’t take it for granted. It’s going to be an uphill battle for me to make the (final 12-man) team but I’m up to the challenge,” said Ross.