Belga finally off to join Gilas camp

MANILA, Philippines - Gilas Pilipinas’ latest pool addition Beau Belga left Manila alone last night to join the national team at training camp in Palanga, Lithuania and is expected to arrive in the seaside resort town this afternoon.

Belga, 26, was issued a Schengen visa last Tuesday by the Austrian Embassy to clear his trip to Lithuania, one of 26 European nations functioning as a single county for international travel purposes with a common visa policy. He will be met at the Palanga airport by team manager Butch Antonio.

Belga’s arrival completes coach Chot Reyes’ pool of 13 for the boot camp which will be highlighted by clinics with coach Kestutis Kemzura and six games against Lithuanian teams, including the European champion Lithuanian Under-20 squad. The others in the pool are Marcus Douthit, JuneMar Fajardo, Marc Pingris, Jimmy Alapag, Jayson Castro, Gabe Norwood, Jeff Chan, L. A. Tenorio, Ranidel de Ocampo, Larry Fonacier, Gary David and Japeth Aguilar.

Belga, a 6-5 center with a deft touch from the perimeter, said he never expected to be part of the national pool after being invited to join the Gilas workouts as a practice player last week. He attended four Gilas practices, making himself available after injuries decimated the Gilas pool.

“I never thought of being asked to join the team in Lithuania,” said Belga in Pilipino. “Gilas sent a letter inviting me to attend practice. It was a good opportunity to help out our national team in any way coach Chot wants me to. They were leaving in a week so I just wanted to contribute at practice with Arwind (Santos) and Denok (Miranda) who were also invited. Then, Sir Butch (Antonio) asked about my schedule. I planned to go home to Sorsogon with my family for a short vacation but that could be postponed. When I was invited to join the camp in Lithuania, I couldn’t believe it. What a blessing. I’m not expecting to be named to the final 12. Just to be in the pool for the Lithuania camp is a big accomplishment for me. I’m ready to contribute as a practice player or whatever. This is for our country.”

Belga said in his view, the Philippines has a 50-50 chance of making it to the top three of the FIBA-Asia Championships here on Aug. 1-11. The reward for finishing among the top three is a ticket to the FIBA World Cup in Spain next year. “The homecourt advantage is big for us,” he said. “The fans will inspire the team to play hard. This will be about national pride. It’s a great feeling to play for your country in your homecourt. Right now, I think it’s 50-50 but I’ll reserve my judgment until after the Lithuania camp.”

If Belga makes it to the final 12, he promised not to back down from mastodons like Iran’s 7-2 Hamed Haddadi, China’s 7-1 Wang Zhizhi, 7-0 Yi Jianlian and 7-3 Zhang Zhaoxu and Kazakhstan’s 6-11 Anton Ponomarev. “I’m not the type to get pushed around,” he said. “I like to face bigger guys because of the challenge. I don’t like losing and in an international competition, I play proud as a Pinoy. I’ll do my job on defense, that’s where I can be relied on. I can set up the defense and dictate tempo. The others can do the job on offense. I think I’ll be able to adjust to coach Chot’s system. He runs the dribble-drive offense and I hope to be able to play within his system. I can play four or five but on defense, it must be a team effort, helping each other out. My outside shot is a weapon I can also use on offense.”

Belga raised eyebrows when he collected 16 points and nine rebounds in powering the PBA Selection to an 80-71 win over the visiting Shanghai Sharks, bannered by Zhaoxu, in an exhibition game here last month. A highlight of the game was when he completely faked off his Chinese defender by motioning to take a three and drawing a roar from the crowd for his trick. Belga said he didn’t anticipate the defender’s reaction from the ball fake.

In Lithuania, Belga said he’ll test himself against big centers and power forwards. “I’ll be out to improve my game and help out our team,” he said. “If coach Chot wants me to bang our bigs at practice to get them used to physicality, that’s what I’ll do. It’s an honor to be with Gilas and if my role is to be a practice player, I’ll do my best in the job.”

Belga said he was warmly welcomed by the Gilas players in his first practice. “It was a good feeling,” he said. “I played five years with Jayson (Castro) at PCU and we also played together in the PBL with Harbour Centre and Hapee so it was like a reunion. I know the rest of the guys and they made me feel at home. At practice, I’ll work hard against Marcus and JuneMar and later with Greg (Slaughter). This is a chance of a lifetime. My first and only time to play for the national team was at the Southeast Asian Games in 2007. Just to be involved with the team even as a practice player is a blessing and a big achievement for me.