PBA lays down groundwork for Gilas preparations

Slowly but surely, the Philippine Basketball Association is starting to address its crucial part in the formation of the Gilas Pilipinas national team for the FIBA-Asia Championship in Manila this August.

During a board meeting Thursday afternoon at the PBA Office in Libis, Quezon City, PBA Commissioner Chito Salud sat down with the representatives of the 10 participating clubs and thoroughly clarified the three essential grounds pertaining to the national team’s cause.

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“On the first issue (team composition), my proposal is one player per team in the spirit of broad and equitable representation,” he noted. “If there are teams willing to lend more than one player, go ahead.”

“Another is, if in the judgment of the coach of the national team that he doesn’t need any player from any team, then so be it but the general principle states–which was approved by the board–one player in accordance with the needs of the national team.”

The Asian qualifying tournament for the Spain 2014 World Championships runs from Aug. 1 to 11, prompting the pro league in “abbreviating the third conference (the Governors Cup) as originally approved.”

“The third conference of the PBA will start on May 12 and will end on July 28. This schedule was already compressed by the PBA after consultation with the SBP (Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas) and the national team leaders after we were given the impression that the FIBA qualifying tourney–which we will now host–will start end of August or first week of July,” Salud noted.

“Now it turns out that the FIBA tournament will start Aug. 1 and now our July 28 ending will seem to be impracticable at this time. Yes, we will shorten the third conference and details will follow.”

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Salud, adding he “has been given authority by the board,” will also sit down with national coach Chot Reyes to “thresh out the final schedule of practices of the national team composing of the players he will choose within the parameters and the guidelines that have been laid down by the board of governors as per the instructions of the team owners.”

Reyes, along with the national team members, is currently seeing action in the Super Keung Sheung Cup, an invitational tournament in Hong Kong, and Salud is bent on meeting with Reyes “as soon as he arrives from international competitions.”

Salud would also want to get the final plans on “the regular practices locally and I want to know which international tournaments he (Reyes) wants to join. If it is viable and feasible as against the revised third conference schedule, I see no problem.”

“As soon as a team which a national team player belongs is eliminated, then that player can practice more regularly than just on Mondays,” he added. “Klaro ‘yun. “But main usapan talaga dyan ‘yung schedule ng out-of-the-country tournaments and regular schedule while the regular conference is going on in the second and third conference.”

With the pro league serving as one of the stakeholders in the SBP, Salud also added he’s eager to talk with its top officials, led by executive director and former PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios.

Asked about the status of the old players’ pool, Salud stated: “I’ll talk to him (Reyes) on Monday or Tuesday to give him the marching orders given by the board and the team owners and let him decide, it’s his call… what was discussed is the third conference. The main role of the PBA is how we can contribute and field in the best of the best.”