By Jonas Terrado
The PBA Board of Governors agreed to send the core of the TNT KaTropa to the Indonesia Asian Games in August, combining the squad with naturalized player Andray Blatche and select members of the Gilas Pilipinas Cadet squad.
PBA Chairman Ricky Vargas said TNT plans to send about seven to eight cagers, with Alaska also committed to bring in one player to combine with the Cadets and Blatche after the board explored different possibilities in hopes of forming a competitive team for the quadrennial competition.
“Everybody in the board wants to participate in the Asian Games but they also want to be competitive,” said Vargas. “We discussed different possibilities but we decided to send a core group in one team and we will just deal with the playing schedules of that team.”
TNT is likely to field national players Jayson Castro, Terrence Romeo, Troy Rosario and Roger Pogoy for the Asiad, with Jericho Cruz, Don Trollano and Kelly Williams likely to be added on the final lineup.
Amateur standouts Kobe Paras and Ricci Rivero, who recently transferred to University of the Philippines, are the likely Cadet players to join forces with their pro counterparts.
Vargas said Gilas Coach Chot Reyes expressed “excitement” over the possible roster after getting a call from Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas President Al Panlilio to discuss the setup.
This marks the second time that the PBA will implement a similar arrangement for the Asian Games.
San Miguel represented the country in the 1994 Hiroshima Games as a reward for winning the All-Filipino Cup. Among the players included in the Norman Black-coached squad were Allan Caidic, Ato Agustin, Hector Calma and Yves Dignadice.
