Second naturalized player?
Coach Chot Reyes says the Philippine team needs longer preparations for tournaments, even the SEA Games.
COACH Chot Reyes says Gilas Pilipinas should consider getting another foreign player to be naturalized.
Ange Kouame, the Ivorian player for Ateneo who was granted Filipino citizenship last year, was not with the Philippine national basketball team in the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games where it placed second behind Indonesia. The UAAP ended less than two weeks ago as the Hanoi Games was getting underway.
“We tried to go with the Fiba rules na just one naturalized player. But the others, apparently hindi. Maybe we have to rethink that like what we did in Manila [in the 2019 SEA Games]. We had a lot of naturalized players, Fil-foreign players. Those are the things that we have to look at,” said Reyes.
The 58-year-old Reyes, reinstalled as Gilas Pilipinas head coach in January, said Indonesia isn’t the only team that has caught up with the Filipinos in basketball in the region, noting that Thailand and Vietnam are also threats.
Indonesia started way ahead

Rajko Toroman, a former Gilas coach, steers Indonesia to SEAG gold.
SOME time after an all-pro Philippine team coached by Tim Cone dominated the 2019 SEA Games, the Indonesia men’s basketball federation started its new system.
Not even a podium placer in the Manila SEAG, the Indonesians rose to the top in Hanoi 2022, pulling off a shocker over Chot Reyes’ squad of players from the PBA, Japan B.League and Gilas cadets.
Head coach Milos Pejic, who handles the Indonesian squad with training director Rajko Toroman, said they prepared well for the SEAG and are gearing up for battle in bigger events.
“This team is in the system the last three years … We gave a hundred percent for the gold,” said Pejic.
The Indonesians now prepare for the Fiba Asia Cup which it will host from July 12 to 24.
Rosser agrees to three-year deal with Blackwater
Blackwater is eager to start the preparations for the new season with Brandon Gauelas-Rosser.
TOP draft pick Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser is set to sign a three-year deal with Blackwater.
Bossing team manager Johnson Martinez said the 6-foot-7 Rosser has agreed to the deal and is expected to join practice soon.
Rosser is back in the Philippines after a bronze medal finish by the Philippine 3x3 team in the Southeast Asian Games.
Blackwater has played a tune-up match with Phoenix on Saturday, with Fuel Masters winning by eight.
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