After a gallant stand at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, some folks believe that the national team needs to tweak its bearings.
But for Rain or Shine co-owner Raymond Yu, the best remedy for Gilas Pilipinas is to tap PBA's best and experienced players.
Yu noted that in the previous international tournaments, the national team is getting outwitted by more wily teams.
"Kasi nga ang katwiran dati kung bakit binuwag yung SMART-Gilas, masyado tayong namamama sa international competitions dahil bata yung mga players natin," Yu explained.
"Kapag may PBA players na nasama, you will have youth and experience in the team."
Even before the start of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, there have been serious talks about overhauling the Gilas team to consist of top amateur prospects like Kiefer Ravena, Jio Jalalon, Mac Belo, Mike Tolomia and Kevin Ferrer. They are given the option to forego PBA Draft to concentrate on the national team.
However, Yu believes that these players need to experience PBA-level of basketball first. He also backs the idea of teams lending at most two players to the national team.
"For me, OK sa akin yung two players per team, basta hayaan mo silang maka-Draft. Basta lahat ng teams committed to give two. Kasi kung papa-Draft mo naman yan, mas magkakaroon ng laman yung mga teams, the team can afford to loan two players," said Yu.
To give an example, Many Gilas Pilipinas players have come from Rain or Shine, namely Gabe Norwood, Jeff Chan, Beau Belga, and Paul Lee. Raymond Almazan also offered his services to be a practice player during training sessions.
Yu also indicated that there is a drastic improvement in the international level when PBA players suited up for the national duty.
When compared to Asian rivals, Yu explained that Gilas is the only Asian team who is able to give the world powerhouses a huge scare.
Just a couple of years ago, Gilas put everybody on notice when it pushed high world-ranking teams such as Croatia and Argentina to the limit during the FIBA World Cup.
In its latest campaign, the Filipinos put up competitive fights against France and New Zealand in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
"If you look at the games in the OQT, we’re the only Asian team which was able to contend well against those formidable teams. Yung Iran and South Korea natatambakan, tayo lang yung talagang lumalaban," Yu said.
"The way we competed showed how much improvement we had since the program started. Kasi, we played against France, which is No. 8 in the world and New Zealand, a top 20 team. I think it’s safe to say we held our own. We’re not just used to playing against them. These are global powers."
"Dati nga Korea hindi tayo nakakalusot eh, pero ngayon, we’re a notch higher than Korea and at par with Iran, tinalo pa natin last year sa FIBA Asia and a notch lower than China. Sa Iran, kapag nawala na si (Hamed) Haddadi, hindi na tayo mahihirapan tingin ko," Yu said.
Source: Interaksyon
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