SEAG 3x3 heroes reuniting for OQT?

MANILA, Philippines — SEA Games 3x3 champs CJ Perez, Chris Newsome, Moala Tautaa and Jason Perkins may get a call for another tour of duty with the national team in the coming FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

This is a possibility with coach Ronnie Magsanoc given by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas the option to tap PBA players for the pool of players to be considered for the Olympic qualifier in March.

Magsanoc said forming a pool is the first step in finding the right players but the federation is likely to release it after the ongoing PBA Governors’ Cup finals.

“We are looking to form a pool of players that will be part of the national pool. From there, we will base our eventual selection of the four-man roster plus the reserve for the OQT,” Magsanoc told The STAR.

The players set to be named by the SBP will be added to the cagers from the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 for a possible hybrid national squad for the OQT. 

Chooks-To-Go Pilipinas, which spearheaded the 3x3 campaign last year with a series of tournaments here and abroad that pushed Philippines into the OQT, currently has the top 100 3x3 players led by Joshua Munzon and Alvin Pasaol. 

Other top 3x3 players are Dylan Ababou, Karl Dehesa, Leonard Santillan, Chris de Chavez, Gab Banal, Jaypee Belencion, Leo de Vera and Ryan Monteclaro who were all named by Chooks 3x3 recently as part of its pool. 

FIBA 3x3 requires every participating team to field four of its top 10 ranked players in the OQT.

Though Magsanoc and the SBP haven’t dropped names yet on the possible player additions from the PBA, likely to be called are the SEAG gold-medal winners.