December 6 ------ AS program director of Gilas Pilipinas, Alfrancis Chua is already looking for potential players that could bolster the national squad whether temporarily or for the long term. Although the philosophy remains keeping the current pool intact, Chua said he is not ruling out adding players to the team, but only limited to a few that will serve as cushion for unforeseen circumstances such as injuries.
Chua, who was also recently named as Gilas Pilipinas team manager of the men’s and youth team, said the additional players could also serve as replacements to the current batch if some of them decide to no longer play for national team. “Long term naman sa Gilas, nag-uusap kami ni coach Tim. ‘Yung mga ibang nagkaka-edad na, kailangan may ready na tayo. Hindi puwede ‘yung hintayin natin na hindi na naglalakad,” Chua said recently in an interview with SPIN.ph.
At the moment, the Gilas Pilipinas pool, coached by Tim Cone, is at 15 in Justin Brownlee, Kai Sotto, Scottie Thompson, AJ Edu, Dwight Ramos, Chris Newsome, June Mar Fajardo, Calvin Oftana, CJ Perez, Kevin Quiambao, Carl Tamayo, and Jamie Malonzo, with Japeth Aguilar, Mason Amos, and Ange Kouame added along the way due to injuries to the players that were initially named to the pool. “Naghahanap na rin kami ng pamalit,” said Chua. “‘Yung ibang bata, okay pa tayo. But we have to have a buffer. Katulad noon, si Scottie, na-injure. Ngayon, si Edu. Kailangan may pamalit. Kumbaga, ang sinasabi ko sa mga meeting namin, kailangan meron tayong spare tire lagi. Pag butas, palit agad tayo.”
On how many players they are looking at, Chua said: “Siguro mga dalawa, tatlo, ganun lang. Iilan lang kasi solid na sila (pool). Iilan lang. Magdadagdag lang ng bahagya. Si Japeth (Aguilar), mukhang nagtataas na rin ng kamay, pagod na rin diba? Si Edu dapat ‘yun, eh napilay.” Chua said if there will be additions to the pool, they are required to join in the practices in order to learn the system of Cone, which has been adamant about his desire to make the pool compact instead of a large group to that there would be little teaching to the offensive and defensive patterns of the team. “But they should join us or kung may practice before the window, nandoon para hindi ligaw sa system. So far, agree naman sila lahat,” said the current PBA vice chairman.
Source: spin.ph
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