GILAS Pilipinas interim coach Tim Cone will have all PBA players at his disposal for the Asian Games team even with the stronger presence of influence of the San Miguel Corp. camp in its formation and participation.
Cone said he plans to build the strongest team possible in the Asiad, regardless of the players of affiliation. The process is still underway.
“We are going to take the best available player we can get from whoever is out there. That’s a guarantee,” said Cone during the press conference announcing his appointment as Gilas Pilipinas coach for the Asiad.
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Cone’s appointment led to SMC sports director Alfrancis Chua taking the role of team manager. June Mar Fajardo, Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar, and naturalized player Justin Brownlee, all of from the SMC group, and three with Barangay Ginebra, are confirmed for the Hangzhou Games.
But Cone said other players are also being considered.
“We are not favoring anybody. In fact, right now, we are pretty much split right down the middle,” said Cone.
Chua said picking players from one group is a thing of the past as it is now a collective effort from both business magnates Ramon S. Ang and Manny V. Pangilinan to build a team for Gilas.
“Dati ‘yun, kung sino humawak. My boss and boss MVP, they are partners. Ang maganda dito, ‘yung dalawang big boss, nakasuporta. Kahit sinong player na available, makukuha namin,” said Chua.
Cone said players that were in the World Cup final roster such as CJ Perez of San Miguel and Roger Pogoy of TNT, and pool players Chris Newsome of Meralco, and Calvin Oftana of TNT are all under consideration for the Asiad team.
Cone, however, does not want to name names.
“There’s a process that is going on right now in terms of who we can get. And I don’t want to disrupt that process by revealing all the names, who we are going after,” said Cone.
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