By Jerome Lagunzad
While most of his Gilas Pilipinas teammates immediately cooled their heels on the sidelines once national team coach Chot Reyes called an end to their latest training session, Almond Vosotros remained on the Meralco gym floor and took an extra time working on his three-point shooting alongside top PBA rookies Mac Belo and Kevin Ferrer.
For sure, not only a few eyebrows were raised when the diminutive gunner – currently a free agent in the pro ranks – was selected by Reyes as part of the 12-strong Gilas unit for the 2017 Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this August.
But the former La Salle sniper is eager to prove he deserves another chance to don the country’s tri-colors. And he’s certainly making a conscious effort to achieve that.
“After practice, sumasabay talaga ako sa kanila mag-extra shooting para bumalik ‘yung self confidence ko,” admitted the 5-foot-10 Vosotros, a one-time UAAP champion with the Green Archers who was selected in the second round – 13th overall – by Blackwater in the 2015 PBA rookie draft.
Then one of the more skilled snipers in the amateur ranks, Vosotros struggled to find his niche on the Elite side, barely finishing his rookie year before getting called up by Gilas management to be part of the revived national team cadets program last year.
While his dream of playing in the pros is put on hold, Vosotros, 27, believes he can get another crack – as long as he puts in an extra time and extra effort from hereon.
“‘Yun talaga ang dream ko – makabalik sa PBA. Kaya kailangan maipakita ko sa SEA Games na hindi pa rin nawawala ‘yung laro ko kahit wala akong pinaglalaruan na team sa ngayon. Andu’n pa rin dapat ‘yung top condition and usual shooting ko,” he said.
