FILIPINO fans were delighted when Quincy Miller, a few weeks ago, expressed his interest to play for Gilas Pilipinas as a naturalized player.
Miller wrote, “I wanna play on the national team” on his Instagram Story, creating a buzz especially with how impressive the Converge import has been playing in the 2022-23 PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Miller reiterated his interest in an interview with reporters on Wednesday after scoring 46 points in Converge’s 132-127 win over Phoenix Super LPG.
[READ: Miller time as Converge makes it six straight wins]
“I think just the Philippines is my favorite I’ve played overseas,” said Miller, who had stops in Israel, Serbia, Taiwan, and Germany, among others before arriving in the Philippines to play for the FiberXers.
“Just the people, the culture. There’s nothing I don’t like about the Philippines. I would love to represent you guys in a national game and actually become a Filipino one day perhaps. But I’m not pressed. I’m just a fan of you guys, that’s all,” said Miller.
The 29-year-old Chicago native said he started to become interested when he witnessed Jordan Clarkson play for Gilas Pilipinas during the fourth window of the Fiba Basketball World Cup Asian qualifiers at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“My first game ever when I first came to the Philippines was when Jordan Clarkson played for the national team. I was on the sidelines. I love the energy. I love the people. Once I saw what’s going on in the country, I loved it even more. Kinda want to stay,” said Miller.
Miller said he is willing to go through the tedious naturalization process to be able to play for Gilas.
“I’m willing to do anything to play for the national team,” said Miller.
Miller was impressive on Wednesday in the win that extended the FiberXers’ streak to six as he hit eight threes, while also grabbing 18 boards.
“I just got the open shots with our offense. We shoot a lot of threes. Coach allows me to shoot those threes. I was making them today,” said Miller.
Miller admitted he was motivated by the ejection he incurred in its last game against NLEX where he was gone as early as the second quarter.
“I just want to come out and perform better,” said Miller.
Converge remains on the roll as it went up to solo second after the victory over Phoenix, but Miller said the team is not focused on stretching the win streak.
“To be honest, we are not really like focused on the winning streak. We are focused on the fundamentals and be better everyday,” said Miller.