IF THE recently concluded FIBA Asia Cup campaign of Gilas Pilipinas is any indication, then it only goes to show that the current trend of young rising stars playing abroad is a welcome development for Philippine basketball, not an impedance.
Dwight Ramos, the team’s second best player behind Justin Brownlee, has been a staple in the Japan B.League for quite some time now.
Kevin Quiambao, this team’s revelation and their designated microwave off the bench – quickly flew to Korea after his time with La Salle where he became one of the Sono Skygunners’ main men.
AJ Edu, this team’s anchor on the defensive end? Constantly battling it out with men as big, and maybe more explosive and quicker than him, in Japan.
Even Carl Tamayo, in the little time he played in the tournament, looked confident in taking those shots, and attacking players bigger than him.
The fact that these guys are aged 26 and below and are already playing like battle-tested players in the team is a testament to how quickly they’re maturing in the environment they opted to grow in.
READ: Five bright spots in Asia Cup campaign: 'Migration boosts Gilas'
It’s certainly a different level of competition – given the abundance of imports they’re facing consistently. They’ll also have to adapt to different systems as a whole, and play different players with varying tendencies.
Now this isn’t another hit piece on the PBA. I’ve always defended former league MVP Scottie Thompson’s position with the team as I believe he has done a solid job manning the point for this team.
Though he didn’t exactly play well in this tournament, I’m a big fan of what Chris Newsome brings to the table for Gilas.
There are also a lot of different players in the league that I want to see on this team from Jordan Heading, Zavier Lucero, and Justine Baltazar, so this isn’t really an issue of one over the other.
The point is, not every great player in the league or in the Philippines gets a chance to play abroad and get more exposure to the international game with both the Japanese and Korean leagues adhering to the FIBA rules.
So why are they getting penalized for leaving?
Instead of this being frowned upon, this should be celebrated and they should be welcomed back with open arms instead of being slapped with repercussions – unless of course there was an actual contract breach done which is a different story altogether.
Can you imagine how good Arvin Tolentino can still be with this move? Already a great player in the PBA, now getting more used to the FIBA rulebook, from officiating, up to the pace of the international game. Wouldn’t that help Gilas should they need another scorer in the future?
The same can be said about William Navarro and even Jamie Malonzo, who will certainly be ready to play more minutes if his Japan excursion turns out well.
Actually the only thing that could make these moves an impediment to the national team is proximity and availability to practices but considering that Carl Tamayo was already here to watch San Miguel and Ginebra – two teams who comprise of half of the national team, including the coach – live in the semifinals pretty much calms those fears down.
I know the PBA and GIlas are two separate entities altogether – but I also know they share the same goal of bringing Philippine basketball to new heights.
So for the love of basketball, let’s find a compromise to this one instead of just outright suspending people.
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