MANILA -- Naturalized player Andray Blatche promised to join Gilas Pilipinas when the team competes next year at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) deputy executive director Butch Antonio said the former Brooklyn Nets player gave his word before parting ways with the team after the recent FIBA Asia Championship.
As for Filipino-American Jordan Clarkson, Antonio said they will still have straighten out the kinks of his eligibility and availability for the Wild Card tourney.
“Andray before naman he left said 'just give me a call, I'll be ready.' With Jordan, it depends. It depends, we still have to work on things,” Antonio told TJ Manotoc in report to TV Patrol.
The SBP also welcomed the decision of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) to release 17 choice players to the national pool ahead of the Olympic qualifiers.
The players handpicked by Gilas head coach Tab Baldwin and the SBP are: June Mar Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter, Japeth Aguilar, LA Tenorio, Greg Slaughter, Calvin Abueva, Paul Lee, Gabe Norwood, Jayson Castro, Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, Ryan Reyes, Marc Pingris, Ian Sangalang, Troy Rosario, Ranidel De Ocampo, Terrence Romeo and Jeffrey Chan.
“It's a welcome development and it's something that hopefully excites the Filipinos again,” Antonio said.
The SBP, however, wanted a more detailed schedule of the pool’s once-a-week practice.
The league has already allowed the players to attend practice sessions every Monday for 28 weeks starting November.
“The Mondays are a welcome solution but you may want to have more games. We're just trying to look which windows we can fit in a real game,” said Antonio.
The PBA board has already agreed to adjust the league’s calendar for the 41st season to give way to the players’ participation in the FIBA tournament, which takes place in July 2016.
The league apparently did not want a repeat of this year’s struggle to put together a team minus players like Fajardo, Lee and Lassiter.
Meanwhile, the SBP has already signified its intention to field Gilas Pilipinas to the Olympic Qualifiers.
SBP president Manny Pangilinan said they will file the required papers to FIBA through the Philippine Olympic Committee to confirm the participation.
“We welcome the assistance of the PBA and thank the PBA Board for its support,” Pangilinan told the league website.
Source: ABSCBNNews.com
