Gilas may opt out of PBA Cup

MANILA, Philippines - Smart Gilas may pull out of its guest stint in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup in the wake of the league’s decision rendering as no-bearing the results of its matches in the tourney.

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Noli Eala said they will make the decision after his separate talks with SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan and PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios.

“That (a pullout) is a possibility but we’ll not do that without good reasons,” said Eala.

“With the PBA’s new directive, we want to know if our participation in the tourney still serves its purpose,” Eala added.

“Since it’s already no-bearing, one question is whether PBA players would be sanctioned if any incident happens. Or whether we can now play under FIBA rules with SBP referees calling the game.”

The SBP top official said the PBA’s decision changing the set-up of Smart Gilas’ participation in the all-Filipino tourney came as a big surprise.

“While I do not question the prerogative of the commissioner to decide on this matter, this decision to change their own rules based on limited parameters imposed by the board is highly unusual and simply unfortunate,” said Eala.

He felt they’re not really welcome in the PBA so they’re sitting down in a meeting to decide on their own options.

“We have time since our next game is still on Nov. 6,” said Eala.

The PBA rendered as mere tune-up matches the Smart Gilas’ stint in the tourney following turns of events, including C.J. Giles’ inability to play in two of their first three games.

With this development, results of games played by Burger King, Talk n Text and Barangay Ginebra against Smart Gilas have been nullified and will no longer reflect in the win-loss records of the three teams.