REINFORCEMENTS from TNT are just the start and Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes expects more PBA players to beef up the national team in the leadup to the 2023 Fiba World Cup.
The returning national coach shared that discussions have already started between the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) and the pro league in terms of once again lending players as he seeks a perfect blend between professionals and the current members of the Gilas pool.
"We've had several meetings already with Commissioner Willie Marcial and they assured us of their full cooperation," Reyes told Radyo5's Power and Play with Noli Eala.
"They just want to be advised and informed a lot sooner, give them a lot of time. They just don't want to be surprised. I'm pretty confident that we'll get the PBA's support."
The PBA's participation in the national team program was thrust in the limelight once again after Tab Baldwin's surprise exit had Reyes assuming his role three weeks before the February window of the 2023 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers.
With Reyes once again tapped to coach the team, players from the Tropang Giga are counted on to join Dwight Ramos, Juan Gomez de Liano, William Navarro, Tzaddy Rangel, Jaydee Tungcab, and naturalized player Ange Kouame in the team.
Stop-gap solution
It's a stop-gap solution, yet one the SBP must do to be able to field a competitive team for the Big Dome bubble, where the Philippines will play Korea twice, New Zealand and India once.
After this window, though, the SBP is expecting more players to be called up for the next tournaments, all the more with the Hangzhou Asian Games and Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam also scheduled this year.
The federation's chairman emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan touched upon this in an interview with The Chiefs.
"Hopefully the San Miguel group would help and we can have a combination of the best of what Tab had in the past and what the PBA players could lend to us," he said.
Reyes had the same thing in mind, reiterating he expects no hitches if ever Gilas feels the need to bring back players who were formerly part of the program.
"If we need to pull out Matt Nieto or Isaac Go or whoever is in the PBA now, I'm pretty certain that as long as we give the PBA enough notice, I don't think we will have a problem," he said.
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.
