SAMAHANG Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) president Al Panlilio eyes to begin the process of naturalizing at least two players at the soonest possible time for the 2023 Fiba Basketball World Cup.
Panlilio said he hopes SBP’s plan to have a pool of naturalized players will become a reality in the period before the country hosts the World Cup in 2023.
But before the process begins, Panlilio said SBP will have to name the new head coach of Gilas Pilipinas first before coming up with names.
“That’s another process that we need to make. Again, I think it starts with really identifying the coach. We are talking about the World Cup 2023 and based on the assessment of the coach, we have to start the process of naturalization,” said Panlilio.
With the tedious process of naturalizing players in the Philippines, Panlilio suggested to have multiple players be naturalized all at the same time.
“As I said in the past, we would need at, at the very least, two names, if not three, para isang proseso na lang for naturalization. But that also has to start as soon as we identify the coach,” said Panlilio.
Longtime Barangay Ginebra import Justin Brownlee is one of the names being eyed to be naturalized, while Chris McCullough, San Miguel’s import when the Beermen ruled this year’s Commissioner’s Cup, has been adamant about his desire to play for Gilas Pilipinas as a naturalized player.
With a pool in place, the national squad can pick its desired naturalized player depending on the competition and opponents whether in multisports events like the Asian Games and the Southeast Asian Games or in Fiba tournaments such as the Asian Cup and the World Cup qualifiers.
Panlilio also said the SBP will leave it to the next head coach on whether Andray Blatche will still be in consideration as naturalized player for Gilas. Blatche has been Gilas’ naturalized player since the 2014 Fiba Basketball World Cup in Spain, but his latest stint was met with criticism during the recent edition in China.
“We leave it to the coach. He is already a naturalized Filipino but we will wait for the new head coach and see what program it will be,” said Panlilio.
Panlilio said Gilas is grateful for the service of Blatche to the national team, as his presence was one of the biggest factors why the national team qualified in the World Cup for two straight times.
“I’d like to thank Andray. He brought us in and performed well. If not for him, we would not be in this World Cup. He is a big asset and a big factor in our Gilas program. But we need to reassess moving forwaed,” said Panlilio.
“I would like to thank Andray for the sacrifices he has done for us. At the end of the day, pinakita rin niya ‘yung pusong Pilipino. Andray has become one with us in terms of this program. Maraming salamat Andray for the commitment,” he added.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
