Barrios upbeat on Gilas training

MANILA, Philippines - SBP executive director Sonny Barrios said yesterday the Philippine national team is working extra hard in training camp at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Miami and expressed confidence that Gilas will be in tip-top shape when hostilities begin at the FIBA World Cup in Spain on Aug. 30.

Barrios arrived in Miami from Manila last Wednesday and will leave for New York City today to meet with NBA executives. An appointment is being scheduled with NBA vice president and assistant general counsel Michelle Leftwich. Barrios is accompanied by SBP lawyer Aga Francisco. Barrios and Francisco are expected to be back in Manila this weekend.

Barrios said his mission is to reestablish close relations with the NBA. “When I served in the PBA, we enjoyed a special relationship with the NBA,” said Barrios in an overseas telephone interview. “When Rudy Salud, Jun Bernardino and I served as Commissioner, we kept in close contact with Commissioner David Stern and his executives. Now that Adam Silver is the Commissioner, we hope to strengthen our relationship with the NBA. Commissioner Silver was in Manila several years ago and is aware of how basketball-crazy we Filipinos are. We’re looking forward to a positive, friendly and productive meeting with the NBA. We are in touch with Attorney Leftwich. We hope to get a chance to meet with Commissioner Silver, too.”

Barrios said retired UN senior economist Leonides Buencamino, a Filipino living in New Jersey, is arranging the appointment with the NBA executives. Buencamino was the PBA’s liaison consultant with the NBA during the terms of Rudy Salud, Bernardino and Barrios. “We also want to impress on the NBA that we in the SBP will abide by whatever rules and regulations the NBA has when it comes to dealing with players. We want to be aware of the nuances of working with the NBA. We respect the NBA highly and in line with the SBP’s objective of playing a more prominent role in basketball in Asia, we realize the importance of relating closely with the world’s No. 1 basketball league.”

Barrios said it was PLDT chairman/SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan who suggested the visit to the NBA. “Boss MVP wants the SBP to be in close communication with the NBA, NBA Asia, FIBA, FIBA Asia and the other key basketball organizations in the world,” said Barrios. “We want to show our respect and support to the world’s basketball authorities.”

In Miami, Barrios said he was warmly welcomed by naturalized player Andray Blatche who is diligently working out with Gilas. “I’m proud to report that Dray is doing very well,” said Barrios. “As soon as he saw me, Dray came up to embrace me. When he visited Manila, we became close friends and were together in visiting the Senate, Congress and the Department of Foreign Affairs with Secretary Albert del Rosario. I saw him off in the PLDT helicopter when he went to Boracay and met him when he came back the next day. I’m impressed at how Dray is playing. We’re lucky that a player of his caliber is with us. He’s an NBA center and very coachable. He gets along with his teammates and you couldn’t ask more from Dray. As for Marcus (Douthit), he’s a true professional. I salute Marcus. He’s practicing as hard as everyone else, pushing himself to be in the best shape of his career.”

Barrios said the twice-a-day sessions will make every Gilas player tougher when the PBA season reopens on Oct. 19. “The atmosphere in camp is very positive,” said Barrios. “The guys are all happy to be together. It’s high-energy and serious training but the guys also know how to loosen up. I notice Beau (Belga) and Paul (Lee) are losing weight. There’s no relaxing when it comes to practice. I’m sure when the PBA reopens, Rain Or Shine will be even more competitive with Beau, Paul, Gabe (Norwood) and Jeff (Chan) in excellent shape.”

Barrios said the coaches are talking basketball even while taking their meals. Head coach Chot Reyes is supervising the camp in Miami with consultant Tab Baldwin and assistants Joseph Uichico and Josh Reyes and conditioning coach Dexter Aseron. “I took lunch with the coaches and all I heard was serious basketball talk and it was great,” he said. “They discussed what to take up in practice, what new drills to introduce, new offensive plays, the variations of the zone defense. You can tell how committed everyone is to the task at hand. The players, the coaches, the staff, everyone is committed to work hard for our country.”

Barrios said the coaches are starting to break down videos of the teams that the Philippines will play in Seville. “They’re talking strategies and tactics,” he said. “Of course, we’re not at liberty to disclose what they’re planning. But they’re already thinking of how to play Croatia and the other teams. We’ll be ready when the World Cup begins.”

Barrios was recently in Doha to attend the FIBA Asia annual congress where 30 member federations were represented. At the congress, Qatar’s Sheikh Saud bin Ali Al-Thani was reelected FIBA Asia president for the next five years. Also voted was China’s Xin Lancheng as chairman. Indonesia’s Eric Thohir was elected head of the Southeast Asian sub-zone. FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann was present at the congress.

“It was decided at the congress to award the hosting rights for the 2015 FIBA Asia Championships, the qualifier for the 2016 Olympics, to China,” said Barrios. “We are pursuing our bid to host the FIBA World Cup in 2019. We hope FIBA took notice of how we hosted the FIBA Asia Championships last year and the recent first leg of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour. We will be meeting with FIBA officials in Madrid to discuss the next steps in the bid to host the 2019 World Cup.”