Fil-foreign teens eyed for Gilas

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines’ recent participation at the FIBA World U17 in Dubai, the FIBA Asia U18 in Doha and the FIBA World Cup in Spain has drawn inquiries from Fil-foreign teeners around the world about joining the Gilas pool.

“We’ve opened the eyes of a lot of kids who want to be part of our program,” said SBP deputy executive director for international affairs Butch Antonio. “We’re aware of the FIBA rule that requires dual citizenship players to obtain their passports before they turn 16. So we’re reaching out to Filipino communities everywhere to inform us if there are 12, 13, 14 and 15-year-old players with the potential to join the Gilas pool. The U17 and U18 teams will provide the feeder system for our elite program.”

Antonio said the adjustment in the academic calendar may mean delaying the start of the major collegiate seasons to September, in the process allowing UAAP and NCAA stars to play for the national U17 and U18 teams without compromising their school commitments.

“If the adjustment happens, it will clear practice time for the collegiate players in the Gilas pool,” said Antonio. “From what we showed in Dubai and Doha, we’re definitely a top three team in Asia. Media picked up on our showing and parents of Fil-foreign players began to realize we’ve got a solid basketball program.”

Two Fil-foreign prospects now under the SBP radar are 6-7, 14-year-old A. J. Edu, a Fil-Nigerian living in Wales, and 6-5, 12-year-old Fil-Australian Ethan Kirkness whose mother is from Dumaguete.

Logistics director Andrew Teh, who looked after the boys in both age-group competitions, said coach Jamike Jarin was a perfect fit for the job. “He’s like a father to the kids,” said Teh. “Jamike knows how to inspire the boys. A lot of discipline is involved in dealing with U17 and U18 boys. You just don’t get angry when things go wrong. There’s a way to bring out the best in the kids and Jamike knows how.”

In Dubai, the Philippines qualified to play in its first FIBA World U17 tournament. The team lost to Angola, 82-72, Greece, 85-65, US, 124-64, France, 86-57, Argentina, 84-71 and Egypt, 92-67, before beating host United Arab Emirates, 115-51, to escape the cellar. The Philippines posted a 1-6 record and was 15th of 16. Despite the lopsided losses, the severely undersized Filipinos went down fighting in every game, drawing admiration from opposing coaches and players.

In Doha, the Philippines opened the FIBA Asia U18 Championships with an 85-60 win over Jordan. Then, it lost to South Korea, 87-69, beat Qatar, 82-79, bowed to China, 91-49, edged Malaysia, 72-69, fell to Chinese-Taipei, 90-86, defeated Kazakhstan, 86-74 and stunned Japan, 113-105, in overtime to finish fifth. Of the eight games, there was a different Filipino top scorer in six, indicating depth and Jarin’s ability to rotate his players. Guard Radge Tongco led the scoring in three contests. Dave Yu, Paul Desiderio, Kobe Paras, Marc Dyke and Rey Bienes paced the team in a game each.

The Philippines closed out the Dubai and Doha tournaments on a winning note. Coincidentally, Gilas ended its campaign at the FIBA World Cup also on a winning note, beating Senegal, 81-79, in overtime last Thursday.

“At the FIBA Asia Championships, the boys refused to give up,” said Teh. “We lost to Chinese-Taipei in a game we could’ve won. China was just too big and in the future, we’ll need to bring in more size, maybe with Fil-foreigners. There was little time to practice as a complete team because Kobe just came from the US where he plays and (Leonard) Santillan joined from Cebu.”

The win over Japan was classic. The Philippines was down by three with eight seconds to go and Japan’s Akito Uchida went to the line to seal it. Uchida, however, missed both free throws. Paras grabbed the rebound and passed to Tongco who hit a triple at the buzzer to send it to extension. Teh called it a spectacular victory. “All coach Jamike told the guys was play your game, no pressure,” said Teh. “They just refused to lose.”