THE road has been paved.
With 29 players from the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) tapped by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) as candidates for inclusion to Gilas Pilipinas, the country is more than half-done in its mission to advance to the Fiba Asia Cup proper.
In that roster are practically the best of the best from the PBA, virtually ensuring a Gilas win in the Fiba third window set February 18 to 22 at the Clark bubble in Pampanga.
“We had very good discussions with the PBA and we were able to get the commitment of several PBA players who will be part of the batch coming into the bubble training on January 22,” SBP president Al Panlilio said in a statement.
So there.
While we practically sent college boys in the November edition in Indonesia—and whose success gallantly brought us to our Clark appointment next month—it is also worth remembering that we first plunged to Fiba Asia Cup action with a Gilas squad beefed up by PBA players in Kiefer Ravena, RR Pogoy, Troy Rosario, CJ Perez, Poy Erram, Abu Traffer and Justin Chua.
Now that we are about to wrap up a much-coveted slot again in the regional wars, it is imperative that we assemble the cream of the crop no less.
While it’s a given that South Korea remains, almost perennially, as our so-called Waterloo in basketball, they must never be given even a millimeter of a chance to defeat us.
And yes, isn’t it almost next to impossible that we would yield the ghost to the Indonesians?
For, in the Clark competition next month, all we need is one win from our three matches against South Korea (twice) and Indonesia (once) to get to the Fiba Asia Cup Finals in Jakarta in August.
This came about after we had scored a 3-0 sweep in the Second Window in Bahrain late last year.
We face South Korea on February 18 and February 22.
In the unlikely event that we lose both games to the Koreans, that would mean nothing if we beat Indonesia on February 20.
And listen up. To even entertain thoughts of Gilas bowing to Indonesia is like saying Joe Biden will not be inaugurated as America’s 46th president on January 20.
We are leaving nothing to chance. And the surest way to do that is to spray the Gilas squad with PBA players. This time, developmental basketball must take the backseat.
THAT’S IT There is a new wave of calls from Japanese citizens themselves for the Tokyo Olympics in July to be postponed due to Covid-19 concerns. This came amid preparations to expand a state of emergency in Japan’s prefectures of Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo. Earlier, Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures were declared in a state of emergency due to another virus outbreak. Haay naku!