By REYNALD MAGALLON
Determined to exorcise the ghost of the Hanoi SEA Games debacle,the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) has put its best foot forward in forming what could be Gilas Pilipinas’ own redeem team.
With the main goal of reclaiming the gold it lost to Indonesia two years ago, SBP has already named its 28-man pool composed of top PBA players led by Ginebra resident import and naturalized player Justin Brownlee and mainstays RR Pogoy and June Mar Fajardo for the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia in May.
Fajardo and Pogoy were the only players returning from the Gilas team that suffered a huge upset at the hands of Indonesia which ended the country’s 52-game winning streak dating back to 1998 and denied the Filipinos of claiming the gold medal for the first time in 14 editions of the biennial meet, spanning 33 years.
Joining them are the core players of the Gilas team in the sixth and final window of the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers led by Scottie Thompson, Jamie Malonzo, Japeth Aguilar and CJ Perez.
Members of Gilas’ 2019 SEAG gold medal team Christian Standhardinger, Stanley Pringle, Marcio Lassiter, Chris Ross and Chris Newsome were also recalled to the national team to join Raymond Almazan, Calvin Oftana, Aaron Black, Arvin Tolentino, Kevin Alas, Brandon Rosser and national team first timers Mikey Williams and Jeremiah Gray.
Also included in the pool were young guns Kevin Quiambao, Deschon Winston, Mason Amos, Benjamin Phillips III, Michael Phillips and 6-foot-10 center and former Batang Gilas member AJ Edu.
“That moment is upon us, and we’re not leaving any stone unturned in our overall bid to regain basketball glory in our region,” said SBP president Al Panlilio in a statement
“What we’ve gone through after that fateful day in Hanoi, both the wins and the losses in the various tournaments that followed, are, in effect, geared also toward bringing the SEA Games gold medal back to our shores,” he added.
“And once Gilas assembles and starts practice for the competition in Cambodia, I expect nothing else but 100 percent effort and serious resolve in sending the most competitive national team possible to do the job of winning back the Gold. That is our commitment to our basketball-loving countrymen.”
