It has been two days since the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) announced the resumption of continental competitions.
Back home, the Gilas Pilipinas roster for the November window remains uncertain, according to program director Tab Baldwin.
Any potential schedule for the November window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers will overlap with the time players from the Philippine Basketball Association will be inside its bubble in Clark, Pampanga.
When asked if fielding an all-Cadets team is an option, Baldwin said he will not have enough bodies to face South Korea and Thailand.
“We don’t have enough cadets to fill out a roster. We’re gonna have to go in some direction, either to the college ranks to the international ranks, I don’t know.”
Currently, Gilas has seven players listed as full-time Cadets: Thirdy Ravena, Jaydee Tungcab, Isaac Go, Rey Suerte, Allyn Bulanadi, and the Nieto twins. Ravena will most likely be in Japan by then, in the middle of his campaign with San-en in the B.League.
Regarding the Gomez de Liaño brothers, Dwight Ramos, Dave Ildefonso, Justine Baltazar, and Kobe Paras, Baldwin has this to say:
“Juan and Javi are co-opted in, as was Dwight Ramos, and there’s nothing to say that we might not be able to do that again amongst other players,” continued Baldwin.
“Right now, Gilas controls Matt and Mike Nieto, George, Allyn, and Rey Suerte, and we are on a borrowed position with Thirdy, and Jaydee is co-opted in as well. That’s where Gilas is right now.”
Besides the roster makeup, there are many things that need addressing for the national team. There’s the coaching staff, the training schedule, and accommodations.
All of those will only be cleared once all the stakeholders and the government can find a concrete plan for these two games that will be held in the still-to-be-disclosed bubble.
“We are as ready with as many scenarios that we have discussed through that you can possibly imagine. But which one of those scenarios will ultimately be the one that we have to confront? And that’s in every aspect, team selection, how we’re gonna manage the bubble, what’s the coaching staff’s gonna be,” thought Baldwin.
“All of those things, we cant make decisions right now because we don’t know exactly what the landscape is.”
