MANILA – It looks like the people clamoring for removal of Coach Chot Reyes in the Gilas Pilipinas team got more than what they bargained for, even the team is now being dissolved, and more importantly, there will be no PBA players in the new national team.

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) on Thursday announced that they are currently looking for a new coach and a new Gilas Pilipinas team as it announced the selection of a formation committee that will oversee the assembly of the next national basketball squad. That’s far more than what most fans wanted as they only wanted Reyes to be replaced, not the team itself.

The SBP said its president, Manny V. Pangilinan, proposed a “participative and consultative approach” in the initial selection process for future national teams to address at least nine international tournaments scheduled for 2015.

“Elite tournaments like the FIBA Asia Qualifying, World Cup, Asian Games, which involve PBA players, will go through the committee composed of SBP Board members from the PBA, PBA D-League and the SBP,” the organization said.

Also, there will be no PBA players in the new team according to the committee. The SBP board members representing the UAAP, NCAA, CESAFI, NAASCU and the SBP through executive director Sonny Barrios will oversee the team member selection.

The SBP will be preparing for the 28th Southeast Asian Games in June 2015 and the 28th FIBA Asia Championship in China in August 2015.

So how will the process go? The committees, according to the SBP, will short-list candidates for players and coach for submission which the SBP Board of Trustees will finally approve.

PBA commissioner Chito Salud said he has met with Pangilinan on Tuesday and relayed the comments and inputs of all the PBA team owners regarding Gilas Pilipinas, which after a superb performance in the FIBA Asia and FIBA Worlds nosedived to the Philippines’ seventh place finish in the Asian Games — an all-time worst. This was something that sparked controversy and outcry over Coach Chito’s style.

“These comments and sentiments were received openly by Mr. Pangilinan, and during last Tuesday’s SBP Board of Trustees meeting, in response to the comments and suggestions made by the PBA team owners, the SBP has approved the creation of a committee tasked to select the head coach of the national team and players from the PBA that would form the national pool,” Salud said in a statement.

“I serve at the pleasure of the SBP, our chairman, and the PBA board. It’s up to them. I will abide by whatever they decide on,” Reyes said on a separate occasion. – with reports from ABS-CBN

Comments

comments