Since the Gilas Pilipinas program started, the average playing years of naturalized players reinforcing the squad is up to three years.
But head coach Chot Reyes has a long-term goal for naturalized prospect Isaiah Austin, Gilas Pilipinas’ latest discovery that if given the green light to suit up for the Philippine squad, can represent our country for the next six or seven years depending on his condition.
Only 23 years old and standing 7-1, Austin could probably become the youngest naturalized player of Gilas Pilipinas.
For a team that will be competing in major international tournaments at least every three months, tapping a young, mobile big man in Austin is logical for Gilas Pilipinas.
Since Gilas Pilipinas program started in 2009, the team has had a few naturalized prospects, but only two were able to serve Gilas at least for the next three years.
In search of a naturalized player, Smart Gilas, then being coached by Rajko Toroman, started out by tapping Jamal Sampson, an NBA veteran, who had an unimpressive stint in the Dubai International Tournament in 2009.
A few months later, the team identified Dwayne Jones as its next prospect, but the player was signed by the Phoenix Suns for the NBA season, leaving the squad to try out former Los Angeles Lakers center CJ Giles.
But Giles had an internal conflict with the squad and Toroman decided to tap his countryman, Milan Vucicevic, who played for Smart Gilas in the 2010 FIBA Asia Champions Cup and the Stankovic Cup also in the same year.
Vucicevic failed to make the grade and the hunt continued for naturalized prospects as names like Greg Stiemsma, former Meralco import Brian Butch and Couyrtney Sims cropped up.
Finally, the team was able to find an ideal reinforcement in Marcus Douthit, a second round draftee of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004.
Douthit was granted Philippine citizenship in time for the FIBA Asia Championship in 2011 in Wuhan, China. At the time he was naturalized, he was already 30 years old. He helped Gilas Pilipinas to a quarterfinals stint in the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship in China.
When Toroman was replaced by Chot Reyes as coach, Douthit stayed on and was a big part of the Philippine team’s return to the World Cup as Gilas Pilipinas finished runner-up to Iran in the FIBA Asia Championship in Manila in 2013.
Douthit played in two more major international events — the 2014 Asian Games and the 2015 Southeast Asian Games, but his replacement was introduced to the program even before the start of the World Cup.
In the World Cup, Douthit’s spot was given to Andre Blatche, a former player of the Brooklyn Nets and together with Gilas resident big man, June Mar Fajardo, they became two of the most efficient front liners in Spain in 2014.
Blatche returned the following year, out of shape, and newly installed coach Tab Baldwin had to find ways utilizing the player who had just inked the biggest deal in Chinese Basketball League history. To make things worse, top front liners like Fajardo and Japeth Aguilar begged off from joining the squad in the FIBA Asia Championship in China where the Philippines ended up second behind the host team, denying the country outright entry in the Olympics.
In 2016, Blatche returned better for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Manila, and although Gials Pilipinas competed well, they were not able to qualify to the next round after losing to eventual powerhouse teams France and New Zealand.
The last time Blatche reinforced the Philippines was in the SEABA tournament held this summer. A must-win event, Gilas Pilipinas sent its best ever players sent to the tournament to be able to qualify for the FIBA Asia Cup.
To the Filipinos’ dismay, Blatche kept the Philippines guessing whether to play for Gilas or not, until a last minute decision was sent by the former NBA player that he will not be able to join the team due to security reasons in Lebanon, host of the FIBA Asia Cup. The Philippines played using Christian Standhardinger, a Fil-German player, as its reinforcement, but Gilas Pilipinas could only reach as far as the quarterfinal round despite beating China on opening night.
Moving forward, Gilas Pilipinas is now setting its sights having Austin to see action for the national squad for the long stretch.
With the new FIBA calendar requiring teams to play quarterly leading to the 2019 World Cup, having a young, talented player like Austin would be a good idea as the team will have a standby reinforcement available anytime.
Rey Joble has been covering the PBA games for more than a decade. He is a member of the PBA Press Corps and Philippine Sportswriters Association, the oldest journalism group in the country.
