Manila Invitationals in the works

MANILA, Philippines - What Gilas Pilipinas will have learned from a two-week training grind in Lithuania is to be displayed in a four-way pocket tournament called the Manila Invitationals tentatively on June 26-30 with national teams from Lebanon, Korea and Japan in the list of candidate participants.

Gilas is scheduled to undergo training under Lithuanian national coach Kestutis Kemzura and play six tune-up games in the Baltic Sea resort town of Palanga on June 2-16. Then, coach Chot Reyes will return with the 17-man pool to play in the Manila Invitationals before flying to Taipei for the Jones Cup on July 6-16. The road to glory will lead to the FIBA-Asia Championships in Manila on Aug. 1-11.

Qatar was invited to participate in the Manila Invitationals but begged off due to prior commitments. New Zealand’s league will be in progress and Australia’s national players will also be tied up during the period. Lebanon, Korea and Japan are serious contenders in the FIBA-Asia Championships and their participation in the Manila Invitationals will be a preview of what to expect in the run-up to the playoffs.

So far, Gilas Pilipinas has gone through five Monday night practice sessions. Reyes is familiarizing the players with his system, conducting walkthroughs of drills, patterns and sequences. He will begin 5-on-5 scrimmages after the Commissioner’s Cup scheduled to end May 24 at the latest.

The 17-man pool consists of 15 PBA stars, PBA D-League center Greg Slaughter of N-Lex and naturalized player Marcus Douthit. Of the 15 PBA cagers, seven are from Talk ‘N’ Text (Jimmy Alapag, Jayson Castro, Ranidel de Ocampo, Larry Fonacier, Jared Dillinger, Ryan Reyes, Kelly Williams), two from Rain Or Shine (Gabe Norwood, Jeff Chan), two from Globalport (Gary David, Japeth Aguilar) and one each from Petron (JuneMar Fajardo), Alaska (Sonny Thoss), San Mig Coffee (Marc Pingris) and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (L. A. Tenorio).

Norwood said it’s an honor to be selected for the Gilas pool. “(There are) a lot of great players in the country,” he said. “Our first practice (at PhilSports Arena) went well. Even though it was almost everyone’s second practice of the day, there was a lot of energy. The most memorable part was realizing how many big guys we had. Marcus, Japeth, JuneMar, Sonny and Greg and we haven’t mentioned Kelly, Ping or Ranidel yet.”

The presence of a slew of bigs makes this edition of Gilas Pilipinas the tallest ever. Norwood himself provides size and length in whatever position he plays – one, two or three. “I’ll contribute my all (in) every aspect of the game that will help us make history,” he said.

Norwood referred to Gilas’ historic quest for a ticket to the FIBA World Championships in Spain next year. The Philippines hasn’t played in the FIBA World Championships since hosting the 1978 tournament. The first three placers of the FIBA Asia Championships are automatically qualified to represent the region in Spain. The FIBA-Asia Championships will be the third that Manila is hosting after topping the competition here in 1960 and 1973. 

Tenorio said he, too, is excited to play for Gilas. “In our first practice, we reviewed coach Chot’s system,” he said.  â€œWhat was memorable in our first practice was what MVP (PLDT chairman Manny V. Pangilinan) and Commissioner Chito Salud told us.”

Tenorio quoted Salud as saying, “Kung hindi ngayon, kailan at kung hindi kami, sino?” He mentioned that Pangilinan referred to the hard work of negotiating to bring the FIBA-Asia Championships to Manila, saying “they did their best to get the FIBA hosting here in the Philippines, now it’s time for us to go to Spain!” Tenorio promised to do his best every time that he is given a chance to play.

Ryan Reyes said for Gilas to make the top three in the FIBA-Asia Championships, every player in the lineup has to be ready and give his all in each game, nothing less. “If I were to make the team, I’d just play my best on both ends of the floor,” he said. “Give my heart out to the country and for the love of the game. It feels good and I feel honored to be selected for the pool. It shows that these coaches appreciate the way I play and feel that I can contribute somehow and help the team.”