A TRAINING camp in Europe and the US are in store for the Gilas Pilipinas pool during their three-month preparation for the 2023 Fiba Basketball World Cup.
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) revealed the general details of the training program of Gilas for the World Cup under head coach Chot Reyes during Monday’s Senate hearing called by the Committee on Sports chaired by Sen. Bong Go.
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Under the timeline presented through a series of slides during the committee hearing, Gilas Pilipinas will be announcing the final pool on May 22, with the players joining the training camp in Europe in June and in the United States in July. Tune-up games will also be played during that two-month period.
The Final 12 will be named in August, after which the SBP will also hold an MVP Cup pocket tournament for Gilas Pilipinas from August 8 to 14, with teams from the World Cup expected to play.
The Nationals will hold their final practices from August 15 to 25 before the World Cup proper from August 25 to September 10.
The SBP looks to be targeting 25 players to take part in the pool for the World Cup, based on the slide presented to the Senate Committee. The ‘projected pool’ that is still subject to change is being led by NBA guard Jordan Clarkson, who played for Gilas Pilipinas in the recent window of the Fiba Basketball World Cup Asia qualifiers.
Other players in the projected pool were Kiefer Ravena, Scottie Thompson, Chris Newsome, CJ Perez, Roger Pogoy, Dwight Ramos, Thirdy Ravena, Jordan Heading, Poy Erram, Bobby Ray Parks, Calvin Oftana, Jamie Malonzo, Roosevelt Adams, Japeth Aguilar, Carl Tamayo, Troy Rosario, Kevin Quiambao, Kai Sotto, June Mar Fajardo, AJ Edu, and Geo Chui.
Ange Kouame and two naturalized players were also on the list showed by the SBP to the Senate.
“Starting the end of late April, Gilas will start practicing and the goal is first to win back the gold medal in the SEA Games in early May, and really prepare for the World Cup starting that time,” said SBP president Al Panlilio.
Panlilio is confident about the time frame that has been made which became possible through the support of the basketball stakeholders led by the PBA, which reduced its season to one conference to give way to the World Cup preparation.
Other major leagues such as the UAAP and the NCAA have also committed to support Gilas, Panlilio told the Senate.
“We will have three to four months preparation and we’ve got a commitment from Jordan Clarkson that he will join us six weeks before. That’s a lot of time that the team can work together,” said Panlilio.
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