THE SAMAHANG Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) had yet to pass the final lineup of Gilas Pilipinas for the Fiba Asia Championship in Lebanon as of press time, as coaches led by Chot Reyes and the SBP leadership are still determining the final cuts and confirming the availability of Andray Blatche for the Aug. 8-20 event.
There are obviously a number of shoo-ins in the team like June Mar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, Terrence Romeo, Calvin Abueva and Jason Castro, but what could be the biggest issue facing the SBP right now is Blatche’s reluctance to go to Beirut because of security concerns.
The Inquirer broke the news on Monday afternoon that Blatche has yet get on board despite the fact that the SBP has bitten the bullet on his astronomical fee to play for the Philippines again.
“Not yet. Deadline is at 9 p.m.,” Reyes told the Inquirer in a text message when asked if his staff had forwarded the roster to the Fiba. The SBP initially thought that the deadline was 12 noon of Tuesday.
After finishing fourth in the Jones Cup that ended Sunday in Chinese Taipei, the whole team was given a break for a couple of days before Reyes’ 24-man pool is practically split into two.
One team will play in the Fiba Asia, and that would certainly be made up of the PBA stars, while the other will be seeing action in Kuala Lumpur in
Malaysia from Aug. 20 to try and win the 18th cage gold for the Philippines.
Reyes had already passed a lineup for KL where Jones Cup veterans Kiefer Ravena, Bobby Ray Parks, Kobe Paras and Christian Standhardinger will spearhead the team together with other members of the Cadet program led by Von Pessumal.