Rethinking Gilas approach

The fiasco that tormented the Gilas team preparing for the Hangzhou Asian Games should never be repeated. Surely, there are lessons to be learned and no amount of finger-pointing will ease the pain felt by the Philippine basketball community. Lack of foresight and coordination was evident as pools of 60 and 37 were submitted to the Asian Games organizers with players who would clearly be unavailable and some, even ineligible.

But that’s in the past. Nobody’s expecting an outstanding performance from a hastily-formed national squad in Hangzhou. The players will give it their best, no doubt and coach Tim Cone will drive them hard. Losing isn’t a popular word in Cone’s vocabulary. Whatever the outcome, fans will embrace Gilas for the courage of facing tough odds with little time to prepare. Playing with heart is all fans want and they won’t be disappointed.

Getting ready for the FIBA World Cup is no excuse for failing to fortify the fences for the Asian Games. From the onset, everyone knew the Asian Games would roll out just a few weeks after the FIBA World Cup. A Plan B should’ve been in place to anticipate what would be necessary to retool for Hangzhou. Recruiting collegiate players for the Asian Games shouldn’t have been considered in the first place unless schedules were aligned from the start. The NCAA season begins Sept. 24 and UAAP, Sept. 30. So why were Kevin Quiambao, Mason Amos, Ben Phillips and Michael Phillips in the pool of 37? They were also included in the list of 60 with other UAAP players Jerom Lastimosa, Kai Balunggay, John Gomez, Gio Chiu and Chris Koon.

Moving forward, SBP must plan ahead with the FIBA calendar in mind for next year. There are competitions that SBP is committed to participate in. The