THE Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) has remained silent amid the fallout from Gilas Pilipinas' disappointing setback to Indonesia in the men's basketball gold medal game at the 31st Southeast Asian Games.
The Gilas side led by coach Chot Reyes arrived from Hanoi on Sunday night, just hours after a shock 85-81 loss to Indonesia ended the Philippines' 33-year hold on basketball supremacy in the Southeast Asian region.
[See Indonesia's gold-medal conquest 'three years in the making']
The loss marked only the second time the Philippines didn't win the gold medal in a SEA Games basketball tournament where it took part - and the first since a loss to Malaysia during the Kuala Lumpur Games in 1989.
Oddly, there has been no word coming out of the national federation, which has even cancelled a press conference scheduled on Tuesday for the Fiba Asia Cup Trophy Tour. No reason was given for the last-minute cancellation.
The loss is seen as a major setback to the national team program, which was forced to reboot back in January when a misunderstanding with the SBP led to the exit of coach Tab Baldwin and a program that has reaped considable success behind a group of players mostly still in school or newly graduated.
Reyes' comeback as caretaker of the national team program has also ushered the return of the old pick-up system where Gilas called up professional players from the PBA for every international tournament it took part in.
The hastily assembled SEA Games team was a mix of PBA stars that were available since the pro league was in its offseason; overseas-based players; and cadets who have been part of the Gilas pool for a while.
Any word from the SBP at this time is crucial as angry fans long to see any new direction for the Gilas program after the debacle, especially with the Fiba Asia Cup set late this year in Indonesia and the 2023 Fiba World Cup fast closing in.
Surprisingly, it was 'Tab Baldwin' and not Gilas or Chot Reyes which trended on Twitter in the wake of the Gilas debacle, the former national coach and his program becoming a popular topic in Facebook basketball pages and on Twitter.
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As bad as the situation was, it could've been worse for the SBP had the women's team not averted a gold-medal shutout in Hanoi after the Philippines' fancied 3x3 sides also fell by the wayside.
So will this debacle lead to another reboot for the national team program in the months leading up to the Fiba World Cup? Or will basketball leaders stick to their guns?
We'll know, as soon as the SBP breaks its silence.
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