8 nominees eyed for Phl Gilas job

MANILA, Philippines - The short list of candidates for the Gilas head coaching job may not be short after all as eight possible nominees could fit the criteria expected to be approved by SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan any day now, said a source privy to the deliberations yesterday.

The criteria were submitted to Pangilinan the day after the Selection Committee – composed of SBP vice chairman Ricky Vargas, PBA chairman Patrick Gregorio, PBA vice chairman Robert Non, PBA commissioner Chito Salud and SBP executive director Sonny Barrios – met for over 2 1/2 hours in a Quezon City restaurant last Tuesday.

While the Selection Committee has not discussed whom to nominate in a short or long list, the source said eight candidates are likely – in alphabetical order, Eric Altamirano, Tab Baldwin, Norman Black, Tim Cone, Yeng Guiao, Robert Jaworski, Franz Pumaren and Joseph Uichico. The Committee has not disclosed what the criteria are but it is speculated that international experience would be a priority. The common denominator among the eight is they’ve all coached the national team, either in the elite or age-group level, in at least one international competition.

Altamirano, 48, coached NU to the UAAP senior men’s title this year and has won two PBA crowns. He piloted the national team at the FIBA Asia U16 Championships in Malaysia in 2009. Baldwin, 56, took New Zealand to the FIBA World Cup semifinals in 2002 and Jordan to second place at the FIBA Asia Championships in 2011. He has participated in three FIBA World Cups and the Olympics as head coach. Black, 57, is a PBA Grand Slam champion coach and steered the Philippine team at the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games. Cone, 56, is a two-time PBA Grand Slam champion coach who led the Philippines to the Jones Cup title in 1998 and to a bronze medal at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games. Guiao, 55, has won six PBA titles and coached the Philippines at the FIBA Asia Championships in 2009. Jaworski, 68, coached the Philippines to the silver medal at the 1990 Beijing Asian Games. Pumaren, 50, is a multi-titled UAAP champion coach with La Salle and piloted the Philippines at the FIBA Asia U18 Championships in Iran in 2008. Uichico, 52, coached the Philippines to fourth place at the 2002 Busan Asian Games.

The Selection Committee is expected to be convened by Vargas as chairman for a second meeting next week. The source said the next step is to decide on a list of coaching candidates based on the criteria approved by Pangilinan. “Once the Committee forwards its list of candidates and recommendations, its work will be basically over,” said the source. “Mr. Pangilinan, as SBP president, then takes over the decision-making. Whether the Committee will need a third meeting after next week is still not determined.”

The source also said the Selection Committee has not discussed if it will be involved in assembling the new pool of Gilas players with the coach. “It’s still not decided if the Committee will suggest a new pool or just leave it to the new coach to recommend a pool,” the source continued. “At the moment, the focus is making the list of coaching candidates. Once the new coach is named by Mr. Pangilinan, then the SBP moves forward to take up the matter of the new pool of players.”

What appears evident is a stronger bond among the SBP, PBA and Gilas with the creation of the Selection Committee. This early, the Selection Committee has arrived at a consensus that the best players will be available for the national pool. The solidarity will be key as the PBA may adjust its season schedule to conform to the recommendation of the new coach in terms of a suitable training period for the national squad.

“It’s difficult to speculate how long the training period will be,” said the source. “That will depend on the new coach. But what is certain is all the stakeholders are on the same page, sharing the same vision, following the same direction. The Selection Committee is the best thing that’s happened to move the Gilas program forward. It’s a consolidated effort to take the Gilas program to a higher level.”

The next big tournament awaiting Gilas is the FIBA Asia Championships in China in August. The winner of the tournament will represent Asia in the 12-team basketball event of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Another project on the table is the SBP’s bid to host the FIBA World Cup in 2019, the first edition to welcome 32 countries or eight more than in Spain.

There is speculation that the new pool of Gilas players will be a mix of veterans and young newcomers. Bobby Parks and Kiefer Ravena, both 21, may be tapped even if they’re still not in the PBA. Gilas was the second oldest (next to Brazil) and shortest team at the recent FIBA World Cup in Spain. The clamor for youth and ceiling may bring in Parks, Ravena, Greg Slaughter and Ian Sangalang (still recovering from injury) to the pool.

Asian powers Iran and China have started to update their national rosters. At the FIBA World Cup and Asian Games, Iran broke in Behnam Yakhchali, 18 and Sajjad Mashayekhi, 20, to join holdovers Nikkah Bahrami, 31, Mehdi Kamrani, 32, Hamed Haddadi, 29, Hamed Afagh, 31 and Oshin Sahakian, 28. China unveiled a starting five made up of 7-0 Wang Zhelin, 20, 6-8 Li Xiaoxu, 24, 6-9 Zhou Peng, 24, 6-9 Ding Yanyuhang, 21 and 6-4 Guo Ailun, 20, at the Asian Games. The youngest player in the Chinese team was Zhou Qi, 18 and the oldest was Liu Xiaoyu, 25.