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Gilas Pilipinas’ mentor Jong Uichico expects a difficult campaign for the amateur national team when he competes in the 2021 FIBA Asian Cup qualifiers set from November 26-30 in Manama, Bahrain.
With just three weeks to prepare for the tournament, chemistry is another issue the team faces as they come from different backgrounds and play for different schools.
“We are crowding ourselves, trying to put things in that we hope the players will absorb before they start playing in the playoffs,” said Uichico, who was appointed head coach of the national team by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), in a interview on Saturday.
The national team will depart on Sunday for Bahrain, which will host the tournament in a bubble configuration similar to the NBA and PBA due to health reasons for the safety of players and COVID-19 officials.
SBP President Al Panlilio announced the 16-man training group for the event, but Uichico said the coaching staff has yet to define the players they will bring to Bahrain to play at Gilas Pilipinas.
What is certain, however, is the status of Angelo Kouame from Côte d’Ivoire, as his naturalization papers have not been finalized in time for the tournament. Uichico said another ineligible player is Fil-Am Dwight Ramos.
Also, gunner Allyn Bulanadi will not join the team due to injury.
That leaves the team with 13 players, led by rookie PBA recruits earlier this year, namely Isaac Go, Matt and Mike Nieto and Rey Suerte.
They are joined by the unconditional collegiate Kobe Paras, Calvin Oftana, Justin Baltazar, Kenmark Carino, Dave Ildefonso, Will Navarro, Jaydee Tungcab and the brothers Juan and Javi Gómez de Liano.
“We will finish the last 12 before we fly to Bahrain,” said Uichico, who made the decisions for the PBA national team during the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, Korea, and the gold medal-winning teams in 2015 (Myanmar ) and 2017 (Malaysia) Southeast Asian Games.
On the coaching staff are Tab Baldwin, project director for the Gilas Pilipinas men’s basketball program, and Boyet Fernandez, two champion college-level mentors.
The national team will face Thailand twice in Group A, as well as Indonesia and Korea, although there were reports that the Koreans will not join due to the pandemic.
“Honestly, we still don’t know the actual schedule. We are waiting… we ask FIBA to clarify. But we are ready to play, well prepared, ”said Uichico.
“It’s going to be tough, because we will face experienced teams, lalo in the international game. We have players who at one point played for the na din national team, and I hope that helps us ”.
Korea leads the group with a 2-0 record followed by the Philippines 1-0, while Thailand has a 0-1 score and Indonesia 0-2.
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