By WAYLON GALVEZ
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Former national team coach Yeng Guiao has said having a pool of naturalized will benefit Gilas as it will give it lots of options on who to play starting next year on the way to the 2023 FIBA World Cup in the country.
“Actually sa akin, simple ‘yung solusyon, you don’t need to choose one, hindi kailangan na kapag nag-naturalize ka e tingi-tingi like the situation we had with Andrey Blatche,” said Guiao.
“Now if you have a choice, even from a bargaining point of view, halimbawa in disciplining a player, kapag alam nya na di pwede magloko-loko kasi papalitan siya, I think that is a better option.”
“To me I think that’s the logical step that we can take. We give ourselves more leeway, giving ourselves more options. Kung puwede naman gawing lima…present and future,” added Guiao, currently the mentor of the NLEX Road Warriors in the PBA.
Since the formation of the Gilas Pilipinas program in 2009, two players have been naturalized by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas one after the other. The first was Marcus Douthit and then Blatche.
Douthit played for the national team from 2010 to 2013, the year the Nationals earned a spot in the World Cup by winning the silver medal in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship here.
Blatche began his stint with Gilas in the World Cup in Spain in 2014. He also saw action in the 2015 Asian Championship in Changsha, China; the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in 2016, and the 2019 World Cup in China.
Guiao coached the national team in the last World Cup, and Ryan Gregorio, a member of the coaching staff, said that is the last stint for 6’ 11” Blatche with the national team.
So far, Gregorio – a Special Assistant to the President of SBP chief Al Panlilio – said three players are being considered for naturalization, and they are Angelo Kouame of Ateneo, former San Miguel Beer import Chris McCullough, and Barangay Ginebra’s Justin Brownlee.
“Yun yung mga nag-signify na that they want to play for Gilas kaya sila matunog ngayon (for naturalization). But if there are other players who want to play, we’re always open,” said Gregorio.
Guiao said the type of player to be naturalized – either a center like Blatch and Douthit or a small forward – would depend on the development of 7-foot-2 local Kai Sotto and Cypriot-born Filipino A.J. Edu.
The 18-year-old Sotto recently signed with the NBA G-League, while the 6-foot-10 Edu, 20, is a member of the Toledo Rockets in the US NCAA.
“Baka naman by that time 2023, sila na yung domineering big men. So depende sa improvement ni Kai and Edu. If medyo kulang pa sila kuha tayo ng malaki pero kung kaya nila, baka ang kailangan tulong na sa labas, or a power forward, or even a point (guard),” said Guiao.
“It would really depend, for the sake of discussion, on me how good is Kai, and also Edu, by 2023,” he added.
