PREPARATION of the Philippine national men’s basketball team continues even if the scheduled hosting of the country of the third and final window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers next month is not pushing through.
Currently in a training “bubble” at the INSPIRE Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna, Gilas Pilipinas said that while it laments the cancellation of the hoops event here, it is still gearing up to plunge into action wherever the window will be relocated.
“We will continue training until we get advice from FIBA,” Gilas head coach Jong Uichico was quoted as saying by the official Philippine Basketball Association website as he spoke of the team’s situation.
On Tuesday, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) announced the difficult decision it made of cancelling the country’s hosting of the FIBA ACQ window in February because of the ongoing travel ban on incoming foreigners from countries with known cases of the new variants of the coronavirus.
The SBP said that while every effort was made to have the event here to push through, prevailing conditions with the pandemic simply made it impossible.
“We’ve exerted a lot of effort into our hosting of the upcoming FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers and this is why it is with great sadness that we announce it is no longer going to happen,” said SBP President Al Panlilio in the announcement.
“We’ve constantly communicated with our partners from the National Task Force Against COVID-19 and they have informed us that there would be no exemptions from the current travel restrictions announced by the Department of Foreign Affairs,” he added.
The window was supposed to take place from Feb. 18 to 22 at Clark City in Angeles, Pampanga.
The SBP offered the country as host to International Basketball Federation (FIBA) late last year as its way of doing its share in further pushing for the return of international basketball amid the pandemic.
Everything was a go until new variants of the coronavirus became a concern, prompting the government to raise health and safety protocols, including putting up stricter controls for inbound flights.
In the third window here, had it not been cancelled, Group A-leading Philippines (3-0) was looking to formalize its entry into the FIBA Asia Cup by winning at least one of its scheduled three games — two against Korea (Feb. 18 and 22) and one versus Indonesia (Feb. 20). Also set to see action in the group was Thailand.
Affected as well by the cancellation were matches in Group C, which has New Zealand, Australia, Guam, and Hong Kong.
The SBP is currently coordinating with FIBA on the next action to take following the Clark cancellation just as it expressed its willingness to step up to the plate to host events when conditions allow it.
“The February window can still happen. We’re waiting for FIBA, in the next few days or next week, to give us an indication of what’s going to happen,” Mr. Panlilio said.
For the window, Gilas Pilipinas will draw from the pool players in the training bubble, composed of cadets and PBA players.
They are Gilas cadets Dwight Ramos, Justine Baltazar, Will Navarro, Calvin Oftana, Dave Ildefonso, Javi and Juan Gomez de Liano, and Kemark Carino.
The pro players are Roger Pogoy and Troy Rosario (TNT), Justine Chua (Phoenix Super LPG), CJ Perez (Terrafirma), Kiefer Ravena and Raul Soyud (NLEX).
Also part of the pool are while the special Gilas draftees are Isaac Go (Terrafirma), Rey Suerte (Blackwater), Matt Nieto (NLEX), and Mike Nieto (Rain or Shine).
National Basketball Association G League player Kai Sotto is to join the training pool as well. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
