WITH confirmation that the SEA Games will only be going for the ‘passport only’ rule when it comes to eligibility in men’s basketball, that’s one problem down for coach Norman Black.
Two days ago, organizers confirmed that they will be keeping the same eligibility rule from the previous tournaments which means that the FIBA ruling – which only allows players who secured their passports before turning 16 years old – won’t be in place for the tournament.
That’s a welcome development for coach Black and the Philippines who are banking on several players who’ve gotten their passports later in their lives to suit up in the biennial regional meet.
READ 'Passport only' finalized as eligibility rule for SEA Games
“The struggle was more on the fact that we needed to clarify what the eligibility rules were going to be,” Black said.
"There were rumors that it will be FIBA rules, there were rumors that it’s going to be passport so finally we found out that it’s gonna be passport which means I can just go with the team that I recruited from the beginning.”
Now on to the more pressing issue – getting everyone together.
While there’s no questioning the talent that this team has, with the ever-reliable naturalized player in Justin Brownlee leading the way, time together will be an issue given the separate commitments of the players in the team and the fact that the SEA Games doesn’t fall in a FIBA window.
Helping the team's cause is the addition of Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser as he's already here and he can be released anytime needed, but others are still tied with their mother leagues be it here or abroad.
“He has experience in international competition particularly in the SEA Games. I requested and luckily for me I was given permission to recruit him to the national team by TNT’s management,” Black said of Ganuelas-Rosser.
“He’s the type of guy who can play big, he can play small, he’s got an outside shot so he’s a guy who gives us versatility but more importantly he gives us size.”
Ray Parks, a valuable piece to this Gilas squad, won’t be available until the ninth of December due to his commitment to the B.League according to Black.
Mike Phillips and Kymani Ladi are still playing for their respective schools in the UAAP – with both of their squads in La Salle and Ateneo still in the running to go deep in the tournament.
Same goes with Dave Ildefonso and Jason Brickmam, two pillars of the powerhouse Abra Weavers squad in the MPBL – a league that’s also expected to extend until December.
“My biggest concern now is preparation, getting them into practice, it’s not gonna be easy at this point given the timetable but I’m sure as we get closer to the games, we’ll be able to get some practice in and be prepared for the tournament,” Black said.
“My estimation is we’ll probably get about 23 days of practice in. Some of those days will be twice a day, some of those will be in Inspire [Sports Academy] so we’ll have them all together so we can try to form a team as quickly as we can.”
But should Black somehow find a way to make everyone’s schedule work – this team will certainly be a handful for any team in Southeast Asia.
“They come from different places but all of them have value. You go to the point guard, like [Remy] Martin and Brickman, Brickman is more of a real point guard, Martin more of a shooting point guard so it gives us versatility there,” he said.
"Of course you have your scorers and shooters in Parks and Matthew Wright and of course I wanted to get some youth in the team too with Dave Ildefonso, Ladi, Phillips and Veejay Pre. I think they bring youth and enthusiasm to the team as well as talent,” he added.
“Then let’s face it, we have Justin Brownlee so that helps a lot.”
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