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'The top guns of Philippine basketball have closed ranks'

Chot Reyes has named, among others, his former players Jimmy Alapag and Larry Fonacier to the national pool.

National team coach Chot Reyes disclosed Thursday afternoon the selected players for Gilas Pilipinas national team training pool via their name initials.

The basketball-mad country is now hoping those initials will spell a podium finish in the FIBA-Asia Basketball Championships in August here in Manila.

RELATED: PBA gives way to Gilas, moves Governors Cup to August

Using his official Twitter account (@coachot), Reyes, 50, revealed the 17-strong roster for the Aug.1-11 Asian spectacle, with only GlobalPort forward Japeth Aguilar emerging as the surprise pick.

“JA,JC,LT,RR,GD,LF,GN,JD,JCh,RDO,MP,JapAg,KW,ST,JF + MD,GS” was how the five–time pro league Coach of the Year bared his chosen cagers for the pool he believes armed with quickness, versatility, outside shooters and role players willing to do the dirty work.

 


As expected, Reyes stuck to the core of the triumphant Jones Cup crew led by naturalized import Marcus Douthit along with tournament MVP LA Tenorio of Brgy. Ginebra, Rain or Shine’s Gabe Norwood and Jeff Chan, Gary David of GlobalPort and Alaska center Sonny Thoss plus the Talk ‘N Text trio of Ranidel De Ocampo, Larry Fonacier and Jared Dillinger.

Also tapped to reinforce the squad are Marc Pingris of San Mig Coffee, Petron rookie June Mar Fajardo, and cerebral guard Jimmy Alapag, lightning-quick Jayson Castro and Kelly Williams of TNT.

Former Ateneo center Greg Slaughter was also elevated from the Gilas cadet pool.

Surprisingly, Reyes didn’t include Petron ace Arwind Santos despite the lanky 6-foot-4 forward’s willingness to don the country’s tri-colors anew.

The selection of the 6-foot-9 Aguilar, meanwhile, has caught a few armchair observers by surprise. Aguilar, who was recently traded by TNT for GlobalPort’s Rabeh Al-Hussaini, got some ‘fatherly advice’ on Twitter from Reyes, his former mentor, somehow causing stain in their relationship.

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The 17-man pool will be pruned down to the final 12 at least by July 1, according to Reyes. The country, which last played in the world meet in 1978, is bidding to finish in the top Three that will give them a trip to the World Basketball Championships in Spain next year.
 
Blessing from the pro league
 
In a special meeting held at the PBA Office in Luibis, Quezon City, Reyes formally introduced his selection and, in the process, gained approval from pro league commissioner Chito Salud and Brgy. Ginebra’s Robert Non, the chairman of the Board of Governors.

“The top guns of Philippine basketball have closed ranks today in support of flag and country and they have been approved by our team owners,” stated Salud.

“After numerous discussions with the commissioner and finally today after presenting to the PBA Board, I am pleased to announce the fifteen players who will comprise the Gilas pool from the PBA. They are Tenorio, Castro, Alapag, Fonacier, Ryan Reyes, David, Norwood, Chan, Dillinger, De Ocampo, Pingris, Aguilar, Fajardo, Williams and Thoss. The fifteen players will be joined by Douthit and Slaughter that will form the national pool,” related Reyes.

“Ang pinag-uusapan naman natin dito ‘yung bansa natin e. I'd rather focus and keep our eyes on the prize which is we want to win this tournament and qualify in the world championship in 2014,” Salud added.

Practice starts next week; foreign training planned
 
With the pro league deferring the this season’s third conference–dubbed as the Governors Cup–until the Asian joust is finished to give Gilas Pilipinas extended time to hone up, the training pool will have its regular practice every Monday from 8-10 p.m. starting on Feb. 11 at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City, according to Salud.

Reyes also added “as soon as the players become available, we shall practice more regularly with the target date of May 25 being the first day of full team practice.”

The pro league is also seriously considering an exhibition game pitting Gilas Pilipinas and the league’s selections during this year’s All-Star Game, according to Salud.

RELATED: 'Gilas will be a team, not a collection of superstars'

“To give maximum exposure to our Gilas team, we decided to tweak our All-Stars by allowing the Gilas team to go against a PBA selection for the main game,” he shared.

The Nationals will also have a busy schedule ahead, including a training camp in Palanga, Lithuania from June 2 to 16.

“We'll play the top six Lithuanian ballclubs and also to have the former coach of the Lithuanian national team (Kęstutis Kemzūra) who will work with the boys for 12 days,” Reyes said.

“When we return, we're planning a one-week invitational in the end of June. We'll invite some international teams, most probably the Middle Eastern teams. July 6 to 16 is the Jones Cup where we'll be defending our title and upon return from July 20 to 25, we're planning to embark on a nationwide tour,” he stated.
 
Where’s the Spiderman?
 
The lanky Santos, time and again, shared his willingness to play anew for the national team, and he even sounded adamant that he’s eager to talk to San Miguel Corp. top honcho Ramon S. Ang to get a green light.

Unfortunately, Reyes snubbed him and defended his bold decision, saying: “We made our decisions based on how we felt are the needs and in that position we felt that we needed (height) in the 4-spot. It was tough between De Ocampo, Pingris and Japeth.”

 


Non, meanwhile, is not treating the case a big one, saying: “‘Yung kay Arwind, baka pwedeng huwag na nating pag-usapan kung bakit hindi nakuha si ganito, si ganyan. Focus na lang tayo sa team kasi baka magkaroon pa ng kulay kung bakit si ganito hindi nakuha e magaling, si ganito nakuha. Iwasan na nating yun. Maraming magaling na hindi nakuha.

“Since time immemorial, San Miguel has been helping the RP team and in fact, coach Chot who coached the 2007 national team sponsored by San Miguel. We're (supporting) all out,” he related.
 
‘We’re excited’
 
Now that he has already come up with the training pool, Reyes is eager to get it going.

“Everyone on that list has been informed and they have agreed when we told them, ‘Are you willing to be a part of the pool even without assurance that you're making the final lineup and train?’ Everybody said yes,” he said.

“That’s why we’re excited. I think people are gonna come in and give their best. The pool that we have answers the needs that we identified earlier. We need to be very versatile if we can play up tempo. We can go down low if we need to, but we have to have a lot of speed, quickness and athleticism and a lot of outside shooting and I think the lineup bears that,” Reyes stressed.

SLIDESHOW: THE 17-MAN GILAS PILIPINAS LINE-UP