Availability or Eligibility?

IN my previous discussion, this corner. I’ve mention Gilas Pilipinas head mentor Tim Cone, is willing to lend half of the nationals’ current team roster and combine with veteran PBA and former Gilas players, of his choice, that would comprise the country’s defense of the Gold medal in the coming South East Asian Games to be hosted by Thailand sometime in September.

Due to other Gilas players’ “availability issue”, since the regional biennial games, doesn’t fall in the FIBA calendar. In-spite of the of the said issue, Cone remained confident with an all PBA line up, it will remain as competitive and cohesiveness enough to meet the challenges of our regional rivals has to offer.

Cone’s previous interview, he mention, “I want an all PBA squad to represent is, and insure they can meet all the challenges from Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, which those team have bustle improved through years”. said the PBA’s winningest coach.

Having indeed an all PBA line up, Cone believed it will really work according to his game plan. And another thing, I think would works to his plan. Just recently the Bangkok SEA Games Federation Council has released a rejoinder, that they will be adopting the FIBA Players’ Eligibility Rule” this year.

Under the said FIBA rules, each member countries are allowed to field in or include in their team roster one naturalized player, who have been living in a particular country for at least five years or more and had been process and granted citizenship. Which means, unlike in the previous stagings, wherein teams are allowed to field in as many as foreign players all together, for as long as they have a valid passport of that country their representing

Like in the case of Cambodia, which hosted the last SEA Games two years ago, avail of the less restricted rule, fielded in five foreign players all playing at the same time, beating Gilas during the first match, and went on almost dominating the opponents such Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. All those teams had field in one or three foreign players in their respective line up.

By the way, the Indonesians, backed by three American players, snapped the Gilas-Pilipinas’ 30-Gold medal in the same biennial meet in 2022, in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The FIBA players’s restriction come to play, this gave Cone another thing going for him and could work very well to his masterplan, as the opposition(specially the locals) will now have to step up match the skills and talent of our boys not to mention, come with a very impressive foreign players ro take on Gilas’ dominance.

Though the Samahan ng Basketbol ng Pilipinas, has yet to come up an up with official line up, there have been reports, Cone has picked five players from the current Gilas roster, there are Jaime Malonzo, Scottie Thompson, Japeth Agilar, Troy Rosario and Chris Newsome. And to beef up the team are Stanley Primgles, R.R Pogoy, Junmar Fajardo, Chris Ross, Mickey Williams and Justine Brownlee.