Will Blatche, Clarkson join Gilas in 2016?

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

Read More

Andray Blatche bucks ankle injury as Gilas Pilipinas survives huge scare from Japan

CHANGSHA, China — Gilas Pilipinas survived some bad shooting and spotty defending to squeak past Japan, 73-66, on Sunday in the 2015 sFiba Asia Championship at the Changsha Social Work College Gymnasium.

Andray Blatche played through a painful ankle to help Gilas Pilipinas recover from an early twin-digit deficit to get their second-round campaign going and somehow create some momentum heading to their all-important showdown with unbeaten titleholder Iran.

The finalists of the 2013 Fiba Asia meet in Manila face off at 11:45 a.m. on Monday.

Blatche hurt his right ankle in the second quarter while trying to force his way through the Japan defense and seemed to aggravate it still eight minutes remaining in the third. But he bravely fought on and despite a limp, still managed to lead all scorers with 18 points.

Slow to react to Japan’s plays, Gilas Pilipinas fell behind 19-29 in the second before Jayson Castro, as usual, sparked a rally capped by a Terrence Romeo basket before halftime that put the Philippines ahead 35-33.

Gilas Pilipinas was never in full control, however, failing to put away early the same team it beat by double digits just a few weeks ago in the Jones Cup.

"It was everything we expected it to be today. It was a very tough game. Japan is getting better every year," said Gilas coach Tab Baldwin.

Makoto Hiejima scored 17 points for Japan.

With Blatche hurt, Japan matched the Philippines' points in the paint at 28.  

The scores:

Gilas Pilipinas 73 – Blatche 18, De Ocampo 13, Castro 12, Romeo 12, Abueva 10, Norwood 3, Thoss 3, Hontiveros 2, Taulava 0, Pingris 0, Ganuelas 0.

Japan 66 – Hiejima 17, Takeuchi 13, Ono 9, Furukawa 7, Hashimoto 6, Tanaka 6, Tabuse 4, Ota 2, Arao 2, Matsui 0, Hirose 0.

Quarterscores: 14-18; 35-33; 54-46; 73-66.

Source: Gerry Ramos of Spin.ph

Read More