The Formulation of Gilas Pilipinas November Pool: The Challenges

"This is exactly the kind of team that will help us at least in the coming window," That's how Ryan Gregorio put it with regards to the composition of the national team pool for the November window of the 2021 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asia Cup Qualifiers which is going to be played in a bubble in Bahrain.

Gregorio, the Special Assistant to the President of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) spoke to Carlo Pamintuan and Magoo Marjon in the latest episode of 2OT, and a big chunk of the episode was used to discuss how the SBP was able to come up with the national team pool during these challenging times. Ryan Gregorio pointed right off the bat that "It is very important that we put into consideration the health and wellness of everyone involved in the bubble. It was really the call of our president, Al Panlilio together with our Chairman Emeritus (Manny V. Pangilinan). They were the ones who asked for the clearance from the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Disease and from government agencies, They were just waiting  Good thing because of them, we were able to get the necessary requirements for us to have a green light to start practicing,"

When asked by Carlo Pamintuan how the federation was able to convince the young players to say "yes" to national team duties, Gregorio explained, "In the formulation of the pool, SBP Project Director Tab Baldwin was also involved and he was really the one who pinpointed who can be included in the bubble. As early as November of last year, he could already visualize the composition of the possible team and college players were added. It was difficult because when we were just formulating the names, many of them were not in Metro Manila. Some were in the provinces. It was really an encouraging sign for us that the moment we asked for their commitments, it was an automatic yes. Convincing them was not difficult,"

On the question of Magoo Marjon about the possibility of Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) who have already exited the Clark bubble joining the Gilas pool,  the three-time PBA champion coach said, "When we saw the hardships of our PBA players inside the bubble for a long, long time, being away from their families, and also the wear-and-tear of not just the physical aspect of their persona but also mental health,  we thought that probably this is the best time for us to understand the players. They will always say yes again for national interest. But at this point, it's better that we give them time to rest," Gregorio later added, "We also want to jumpstart our program. We've been trying to come up with a new template wherein the PBA players who are drafted by their mother teams in the PBA but are also dedicated to the Gilas program. Let's see if that can be our plan in the years to come,"

The alternate governor of the Meralco Bolts also said that the team is ready to go all-Filipino if Angelo Kouame's naturalization process won't be completed in time for the November window in saying that "It is also important that while we are waiting for his papers, we are trying to ready Ange for February. The important thing that we want to do is for him to be a part of the system, part of the pool, understand exactly the system that we're trying to implement, and also, chemistry plays a big factor and that is why we included him in the pool because it's no big secret anyway, we might as well utilize him this early as part of our scouting team for example and just to be able to educate him on how we want to do things. The attitude of the character also plays a big role. You have to get that early on during your practice sessions to be sure that you'll be able to embrace the kind of play you want to establish to represent our Gilas Pilipinas,"

Screenshot is from 2OT Facebook page