Sinag pool to be cut to 10 bets

MANILA, Philippines - The pool of 26 players trying out for the Philippine team to represent the country at the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) Championships and Southeast Asian (SEA) Games will be trimmed to 16 by the end of practice at the PhilSports Arena today.

SBP deputy executive director for international affairs Butch Antonio said yesterday it won’t be easy cutting 10 players because “everyone has been impressive.” National coach Tab Baldwin started the four-day tryouts last Monday with assistants Jimmy Alapag, Nash Racela, Josh Reyes and Mike Oliver.

“For coach Tab, it’s the first time he’s seeing most of the players on the court,” said Antonio. “He’s involved the assistant coaches every step of the way from whom to invite to the process of evaluation to the final selection.  They video the tryouts, study tape carefully and assess the performance of the players the night before every practice. Coach Tab is big on attitude so he’s looking for guys who are competitors.”

Antonio said watching the tryouts up close, he’s convinced that the future of Philippine basketball is secure. “These guys are the future,” he said. “And the future looks good. The guys have been showing up for practice even the two players from Southwestern University in Cebu (Mark Tallo and Jasper Parker). Last Monday, Baser (Amer) and Art (de la Cruz) couldn’t make it because of classes so they were excused. And the next day, Norbert (Torres) and Almond (Vosotros) were also excused because of conflict of schedule in their practice. Otherwise, it’s been 100 percent attendance.”

Naturalized player Marcus Douthit sat out the drills last Monday and Tuesday but was set to join last night. Antonio said Douthit is the only seeded player in the pool of 26.  

Seven players from the Hapee Toothpaste squad that recently captured the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup are in the pool. They are Amer and de la Cruz, Ray Parks, Garvo Lanete, Arnold Van Opstal, Troy Rosario and Scottie Thompson. The others in the pool are Douthit, Kiefer and Thirdy Ravena, Jerie Pingoy, Tallo, Parker, Torres, Vosotros, Jeron Teng, Thomas Torres, Prince Rivero, Jiovani Jalolon, Richard Escoto, Mike Tolomia, Roi Sumang, Gelo Alolino, Kevin Ferrer, Glenn Khobuntin and Mac Belo. Six players are from La Salle, four from NU and three each from San Beda, FEU and Ateneo. The national team that will play at the SEABA Championships and SEA Games is called Sinag Pilipinas to differentiate it from the senior squad called Gilas.

The SEABA Championships will be held in Singapore on April 27-May 1 while the SEA Games will be staged also in Singapore on June 5-16. Antonio said the goal for both competitions is to win the gold. “The top two placers of the SEABA Championships will advance to the FIBA Asia Championships in China, the qualifier for the 2016 Olympics so it’s a must that we win the SEABA title or at worst, finish second to play at the FIBA Asia Championships for the chance to represent Asia in Rio de Janeiro,” said Antonio.

Antonio said the final 12-man lineup will be submitted to the organizers of the SEABA Championships 15 days before the tournament begins. “The deadline will be on or around April 12 so that’s when we expect coach Tab to announce the 12-man roster,” said Antonio.

It won’t necessarily hold that the 12 players for the SEABA Championships will be the same 12 players for the SEA Games. There may be tweaks in the lineup along the way for various reasons, including injuries. Last year, there were tweaks in the cast that represented the country at the FIBA World Cup in Spain and the Asian Games in Incheon. Jayson Castro and Andray Blatche played in Spain but their slots were taken over by Jared Dillinger and Marcus Douthit in Incheon. Castro was injured while Blatche was ruled ineligible under the new Asian Games qualification of a three-year residence for naturalized players.

Baldwin will end the 8 to 10 p.m. tryouts today. “It’s a tough call to trim the team,” said Antonio. “Coach Tab told the guys as much as possible, he’d like to carry over the SEABA team to the SEA Games. But there may be minor adjustments, if any. He’s forming the core team that he hopes to play in both tournaments.”

At the 2013 SEA Games, the Philippines won the gold medal in basketball with coach Joseph Uichico. The players on the squad were Douthit, Kevin Alas, Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, Ronald Pascual, Jake Pascual, Parks, Jericho Cruz, Belo, Sumang, Lanete, Ferrer and Kiefer Ravena.   Seven of the players are in the pool trying out for the SEABA Championships and the SEA Games this year.