Absence of PBA Stars in Gilas November Pool: Preparation for Next Wndow

If you look at the current pool of Gilas Pilipinas for the next window of the 2021 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asia Cup qualifiers which are set to resume next week in a bubble in Bahrain, you would notice the absence of Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) players whose teams are already eliminated from the PBA bubble in Clark. The top brass from the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) has an explanation for that. 

The SBP held the virtual SBP Mediacon on Thursday where SBP President Al Panlilio formally named Coaches Academy Head Jong Uichico as the head coach of Gilas Pilipinas for the November games. One of the questions that were asked to the SBP officials is this: What made the SBP decide on this young team alone without reinforcements in the form of the PBA players whose teams are no longer inside the Clark bubble?

It was SBP Al Panlilio who explained the decision of the federation on having young amateur players in the Gilas pool. "From the SBP's standpoint, we really wanted to embark on this program early on. That's why we had a special arrangement with the PBA wherein we drafted players and they were assigned to the SBP to really participate in the Gilas team and FIBA competitions. It has been a long-delayed project by the SBP and we felt that at this time, we could really start that out and get the ball rolling in this program,"

On the absence of PBA players in the pool, Panlilio said, "We are cognizant of the fact that the PBA and the PBA players themselves have sacrificed a lot of being in a bubble," He also added, "I know that players who offered their services are from teams that have been eliminated but it's really our decision to really make them rest and really prepare again hopefully for the next window where hopefully we can have a team that will have our young players together with some PBA players,"   

Screenshot is from the SBP Facebook page