GILAS PILIPINAS | THE CONS OF TALENT POOLS

Gilas Pilipinas is expected to dig helluva against Latvia and Georgia for a chance in the 2024 Paris Olympics. The roster got the gig from their 2023 FIBA World Cup showing. Even if the team got only one win, they ranked third in the continent because they defeated China, and at the same time have a better winning quotient than them.

If the Philippines makes the semifinals against host Latvia and Georgia, they will face the semifinalists from the group that has Brazil, Montenegro, and Cameroon. While the team is going to face elite squads, they only lost by six against the Dominican Republic, by ten against Angola, and by seven against Italy.

Team USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, Serbia, France, FIBA World Cup winner Germany, and South Sudan, the team that gave the Philippines their worst World Cup beatdown, have already qualified for the Olympics. China is the only squad from our FIBA World Cup to miss the qualifying tournament with Italy trying their luck in Puerto Rico while Angola is going for a spot in Spain.

And this current development makes our climb even more difficult.

Japeth Aguilar, Mason Amos, and RR Pogoy have been asked to join the Gilas practices to compensate for the injuries to Scottie Thompson, Jamie Malonzo, and AJ Edu. The Strong Group Athletics have also offered Rhenz Abando and Jordan Heading in case Gilas wants their services. Bobby Ray Parks was also considered, but he has a live contract with Nagoya.

Justin Brownlee, June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez, Chris Newsome, Calvin Oftana, Dwight Ramos, Kevin Quiambao, Carl Tamayo, and Kai Sotto completing the lineup leaves Gilas without a natural point guard.

UPDATE: Pogoy failed to make the Olympic qualifier squad because of VISA issues.

Against the Taiwan Mustangs, Gilas won with little to no problems despite Taiwan playing a bunch of American-sounding surnames, a Maltese import, and a couple of Filipinos. Since they posted the video on YouTube, I'll embed the highlights here. However, much like the Gilas players wearing different numbers, I wish that One Sports would take down the video so the other teams would have a tougher time scouting us.

Maybe they can replace the video with a 320x240 version?

Okay, I am NOT going to post the video here.

Gilas played without a true point guard. Despite Justin Brownlee's high assists numbers, Gilas relied on ball movement. With that said, there were times when the Mustangs were able to decrease the Gilas' lead. Alex Cabagnot, playing for the Taiwan Mustangs, had a hand in these runs.

There are calls for Gilas to have a talent pool.

I hate the idea of having a talent pool.

And here are my reasons.

IT HAS AN AFTERTASTE

I don’t have a problem with players moving to the international leagues because it’s their choice, and they bring back intel on our opponents. Again, what reason might the Japanese and Koreans have to spam Filipino imports as compared to other Asian countries other than checking out our gameplay?

That said, I have a problem with players refusing their pro because of their national team commitments. We might like the idea of a readily available star, but the lack of regular games will mess with their court awareness. Chris Tiu overstayed in Gilas and even if he had other commitments, it’s not like he was rewarded with a superstar PBA career. And it’s not like being readily available is a good thing. Dylan Ababou is the perfect example of a player who lost his mojo when he committed to Gilas. He was already a second-stringer under Rajko Toroman, but with the additions of Marcio Lassiter and Chris Lutz, as well as the PBA players, Super Ababou went from semi-starter to reserve player. Another Gilas prospect, Magi Sison, was a reserve Gilas player even during the initial stages and his draft stock fell because of this. We can say the same with Jason Ballesteros, Rey Guevarra, JR Cawaling, and even Mac Baracael and Aldrech Ramos. Even if his PBA career isn't as stellar, you can't blame Rabeh Al-Hussaini for withdrawing from Gilas to join Guevarra and RJ Jazul in the 2010 PBA Draft because his time and effort might not translate into success.

IT CHANGES THINGS

The Gilas program and the PBA are aligned in a lot of things, especially when it comes to player development. However, there are times when a lot of situations come into play that ruin the success of the program. In 2016, the PBA held a special round so each team would have a chance to develop a Gilas player. Yes, this led to the development of RR Pogoy and Jio Jalalon’s gameplay, but it also ruined the progress of Kevin Ferrer, Carl Bryan Cruz, Russel Escoto, and Arnold Van Opstal. Ferrer gets to be in this list because he played Ginebra, a team loaded with offensive options and the only way he can break the rotation is by doubling down on his defensive strengths. Meanwhile, while Cruz became a mainstay in several international tourneys, Alaska never really used his talents. Except for the 2018-19 PBA season, Cruz never averaged more than five points and 13 minutes per game. Escoto had the chance to excel with lowly Terrafirma but aside from injuries, Escoto spent his first five seasons with four different teams. AVO, one of the premiere players in that pool, barely saw action for the San Miguel Beermen and after getting traded to Northport, he never saw PBA action again after just ten career games. Fonso Gotladera, a former Ateneo and DLSU standout, was added to the round to make the player count 12.

And speaking of Gotladera, he got a DNP for Gilas Pilipinas in the Luzon leg of the 2017 PBA All-Star Game. Van Opstal was listed on Wiki, but if you check out the boxscores, his name wasn’t part of the roster. If I remember correctly, AVO at this point has been released by Northport. With that said, free agent Almond Vosotros, the twelfth man in the Gilas cadet pool who has already played one season for the Blackwater Elite, saw six minutes of action in the same leg. And while I get that this is preparation for the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup, it just sucks that an elite player like Sean Anthony has yet to see action in a PBA All-Star Game but just because of their association with the national squad, they get a free All-Star ride.

And 2016 is not the only year with Gilas pool players. Isaac Go, Rey Suerte, Allyn Bulanadi, and Matt and Mike Nieto delayed their PBA careers for possible Gilas action. Jordan Heading, Will Navarro, Tzaddy Rangel, and Jaydee Tungcab were part of the final Gilas round. Apart from a couple of tourneys, these players never got the chance to get something from the experience. Also, Terrafirma has yet to play Heading with the Fil-Am choosing other leagues. Even if Rangel’s PBA career has been underwhelming (he only had one minute of PBA action,) Terrafirma should be compensated because, in a span of two seasons, they could have played Go, Heading, Roosevelt Adams, and Joshua Munzon alongside Juami Tiongson. While I am not saying that this would have been a championship-hunting squad, it’s better than what they had during that period.

PLAYER POOLS ARE AN EXCUSE

Pools restrict potential talents from joining the team from prospective tournaments. If they are really that adamant about player participation, then maybe they can just come up with wish lists rather than talent pools.

During the 2023 Asian Games, Tim Cone tried to insert Calvin Abueva, Terrence Romeo, and Jason Perkins into the squad. Unfortunately for Gilas, this was blocked by the host country China because they were not initially placed on their potential list of players. I would rather have the coaching staff submit a list of the best PBA players, as well as the best international talents so they can just have the best players at their disposal. The problem with these kinds of lists is that either they are weird, or they are made for the sole purpose of just submitting something. I am not ratting on the last list I saw that the Gilas people made for the Asian Games but, the fact that the list had a lot of untested college players, injured players, and several players that have moved on from the Philippines is just nuts.

And then there’s that thing where Justine Baltazar and Mikey Williams allegedly bowed out of Gilas' consideration. At the moment, Ray Parks has also bowed out from representing the country, but in fairness to him, he has represented Gilas in a couple of international tilts.

What about Kiefer Ravena? Or even Thirdy for that matter? They are top players, but because of their association with Chot Reyes, they are left out of the conversation. The problem in the PBA is that the pass-first point guards have transformed into combo guards. Newsome, Perez, and even Ramos are as good as PG options as Heading but let’s not forget that Kiefer Ravena, I don’t know his 2023-24 season with the Shiga Lakestars, but Kiefer averaged almost 12 points and 5 assists in his first two years in Japan.

But yeah, Tim Cone is not considering him because he had other ideas.

This reminds me.

LET CONE HAVE ALL THE FUN

Pogoy is one of the players Cone wanted in the Asian Games. During his time with San Mig Coffee, he had Mark Barroca but he also had Peter June Simon and James Yap playing together. Furthermore, Scottie Thompson transformed into a point guard under his watch, as the former was more of a heavy-scoring combo guard in college. Pogoy wanted to play for Gilas while Parks had to check his contractual obligations.

Again, why have pools if Cone can just get the player that he wants?

Remember when we thought Gilas was doomed in the Asian Games? Two weeks later, we celebrated the awesomeness of the only two-time grand slam winner in the PBA. If there’s anyone who can revive our love for basketball, it’s Tim F’N Cone.

THE NEED TO WANT IT

If you're going to diss Japeth's participation, just remember that he is been part of the national team since 2007. I know Aguilar is a beloved Gilas figure, but before joining Ginebra, people questioned his basketball vision. Whether or not he gets significant minutes, he knows that he wants to do anything in his power to give his team that win.

If a talent pool has this kind of attitude, then maybe I could agree with this thought.

Otherwise, let the coach get the players he wants, and let the players agree if they want to play or not.

A fan can say that they might be selfish in turning down the heed of the country, but there is the chance that they are going to miss a lot of milestones in their family. Moreover, the risks of getting an injury, or aggravating a sore body part are there as well.

We know that the surest way for a PBA player to make the Greatest Players list is if he won an MVP award. During his first years in the league, Danny Seigle was part of every MVP consideration. There was even talk that one of Danny Ildefonso's MVPs should have been his if only the basketball landscape back then weren't headhunting Fil-Shams.

In 2002, Seigle was scheduled to highlight the Busan Asian Games but a freak injury not only sidelined him for more than a season, it also dashed his hopes of claiming the league's biggest prize.

All in all, the reason why I won't agree with player pools is because the coach and the player must agree on this commitment. You can't force a player to play for the country since you can't force a coach to play a person he does not like. Unlike the PBA teams, a coach can enjoy the benefits of having a surplus of options, but unlike in the PBA, this is extra work for a player who has just undergone a grueling season.

Anyone can be an armchair coach but not anyone can be an actual coach. While I may have asked Coach Chot Reyes to step down from his Gilas duties, I never questioned his dribble-drive mantra. If you look at the stats, Yeng Guiao fared worse in the FIBA tourneys. However, he lost the trust of the nation, which is why he needs to step down.

And while his F.U. moment to resign was during the Asian Games preparations, it didn't help that Tim Cone won the country's first basketball gold medal since 1962. He is a 25-time PBA champion, a two-time grand slam champion, and the only coach to win five championships with three different teams.

If there's a coach that could get this done, it's Tim Cone.