Sangalang surprised; Slaughter feels ready now for Gilas

MANILA, Philippines -- Star’s young forward Ian Sangalang said he was surprised to learn that the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas included him in the 17-man national pool that will be made available as Gilas Pilipinas vies for the Olympic qualifying tournament in July 2016.

“Siyempre, galing ako sa injury last season at wala naman silang (SBP) nakita sa akin (last season), pero pinili pa rin nila ako sa 17-man kaya nagulat din ako dun,” the 6-foot-5 Sangalang said when reached by Philstar.com for comment on Wednesday.

Being a newbie in the national pool, Sangalang, who has just recovered from a knee injury that kept him sidelined for the entire 2015 season, vows to give his all once the training under Gilas coach Tab Baldwin begins, hoping he could also follow the footsteps of his bosom buddy Calvin Abueva.

The left-handed Hotshot and Abueva, Alaska’s young star forward, were teammates during their college days with the San Sebastian Stags. The two, along with newly-acquired Star wingman Ronald Pascual formed the Stags’ famed “Pinatubo Trio”.

“Iba talaga ang pakiramdam kung mapasama ka sa national team. Eh lahat naman nangangarap na makapag-laro para sa bansa,” he said.

“Eh yung makapanuod nga lang ng games ng Gilas sa TV, kinikilabutan na ako, lalo na si Calvin na sa totoo lang, ang layo na ng narating niya at proud ako sa ginawa niya para sa bansa,” added the second overall pick in the 2013 PBA Draft.

On the other hand, Barangay Ginebra’s star center Greg Slaughter looks forward to suiting up for the national team since being part of the original Smart-Gilas national squad handled by Serbian coach Rajko Toroman.

“I always wanted to come back and play for the national team and I know I’ll be prepared this time,” said the soft-spoken seven-foot Ginebra giant.

Working on his body and conditioning during the offseason, as well as recovering from his ankle injury, Slaughter said he wants to improve further in the coming PBA, hopeful the experience could also prepare him mentally and physically for Gilas.

“I still have a lot of time between now and the future with Gilas. I don’t wanna jinx anything but I’m looking forward to that (joining the Gilas pool) and I have the whole season in the PBA to also prepare for that,” he added.

Sangalang and Slaughter will be joining the 17-man national pool that also includes June Mar Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter, Japeth Aguilar and LA Tenorio, who are all playing under the umbrella of San Miguel Corps.

Rain or Shine’s Paul Lee and Jeff Chan, players who missed the Fiba-Asia tournament in Changsa, were also included, along with Glas 3.0 holdovers Calvin Abueva, Terrence Romeo ,Marc Pingris, Troy Rosario, Gabe Norwood,  Ranidel de Ocampo, Jayson Castro and Matt Ganuelas Rosser.

Talk ‘N Text guard Ryan Reyes was also added into the list.

The world qualifier though won’t be a walk in the park for the Filipinos who will be up against the losing semifinalists from Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia-Oceania.

China, which beat Gilas in the Fiba-Asia gold medal round, punched in an automatic ticket to the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Others which earned passage to the Olympic World Qualifier are France, Serbia, Greece, Italy and Czech Republic from FIBA Europe, New Zealand from Oceania, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico from America and Angola, Tunisia and Senegal from Africa.