Gilas players will commit to join draft
Returning Philippine national men’s basketball team coach Chot Reyes told the members of the current Gilas Pilipinas pool on Tuesday that they will be asked to join the upcoming 2016 PBA Rookie Draft as part of the program.
The members of the Gilas pool, who are all amateur players who recently wrapped up their commitments in the collegiate ranks, were expected to skip the draft to remain available for a national team call-up.
The return of Reyes, who had passed the head coaching reins to Tab Baldwin in 2014 but has been asked to take over his old post on Monday, to the Gilas program seems to change that.
“I will have to tell you now that the first part of my program in preparing for FIBA competition is to make sure that the players are in the PBA,” Reyes told the players in a meeting that was streamed live on Facebook.
“Because pag naglaro kayo sa PBA, you’re going to be in game shape, you’re going to get a lot of training. And more importantly, it will teach you how to adapt. You will adapt to different teammates, different coaches, different systems, different situations.”
“So you’re going to be part of Gilas but you’re all going to be a part of the PBA Draft. My commitment to the PBA is every player who puts on the Gilas jersey is going to be part of the PBA Draft. So doon pa lang, if you have problems with it, you let us know, (Gilas team manager Butch Antonio, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Sonny Barrios) know, if you have problems with it.”
Reyes also laid out the plans for the team, which includes the players joining their PBA teams but being pulled out by Gilas when necessary.
“Because we cannot have a situation na yung iba sa inyo gusto maglaro, yung iba sa inyo ayaw maglaro. For me, part of the training, the successful formula is, you have a group of players playing in the PBA, but when we need them, we’re pulling you out early, 30 days, 60
mahirap yung trabaho niyo. Mag-te-train kayo maglalaro kayo sa niyo. Pag kailangan kayo, i-pupullout kayo, balik na naman kayo sa Gilas. And aside from that, may sarili nating training na walang kinalaman sa PBA, we’re going to be training as a team. It’s going to be a difficult situation.”
The coach added that the PBA teams will be lending players to the pool as well, which could boost the ability of the team to be competitive on the international stage.
“The PBA is going to lend at least one PBA player per team to be part of this pool. Sa dami ng tournament na lalaruan natin, I don’t know if it can be one team that will train for all those tournaments, so iba iba yan – pag SEABA, pag SEA Games, pag FIBA Asia, pag World Cup qualifying.
“Sa dami ng tournament na lalaruan, we cannot survive with one team only, we need a pool of players. So that’s the reason why.” — Jewish athlete, she chose to boycott the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany.
MAY SUTTON A sixteen-year old from Pasadena, won the US Championship (precursor to the modern US Open). She won her first singles title at Wimbledon in 1905, becoming the first American male or female to win there. In 1908 she became the first sports celebrity to reign as the Tournament of Roses Queen.
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