Fajardo, other PBA vets shoo-in in Chot’s roster

MANILA, Philippines - June Mar Fajardo and the other players who made the Mythical Five in the just-concluded PBA season are high on the list of PBA players coach Chot Reyes is eyeing for the new Gilas Pilipinas pool.

Fajardo, Jayson Castro, Calvin Abueva, Terrence Romeo are to lead the 12 PBA players to be added to the initial Gilas players distributed to the 12 PBA ball clubs in a special draft Thursday.

The initial Gilas roster includes Mac Belo, Kevin Ferrer, Arnold Van Opstal, Ed Daquiaog, Jio Jalalon, Mike Tolomia, Russell Escoto, Roger Pogoy, Carl Bryan Cruz, Von Pessumal, Alfonso Gotladera, Matthew Wright and Almond Vosotros.

Belo is joining Blackwater, Ferrer is going to Ginebra while Van Opstal will have a good training with Fajardo at San Miguel. Phoenix is tabbing Wright, Star is taking in Jalalon, Mahindra is enlisting Escoto while Rain or Shine is recruiting Tolomia.

Reyes will gather these players early next year to start a long program geared at making the World Cup in China in 2019 and the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.

“The PBA Mythical Five are high on our list. But there’s a problem in June Mar Fajardo and Arwind Santos as they are both from San Miguel Beer. We’re allowed to pick only one player per PBA team,” said Reyes.

Among all the players, Fajardo is a cinch to make the team. In fact, a key consideration for Reyes in enlisting a naturalized player is that he must be somebody who can play alongside Fajardo.

“An option is a tall European who can shoot from the outside,” said Reyes.

“We don’t want a naturalized who will alternate with June Mar at center. If June Mar is there, he has to play (major minutes) as he’s improved a lot,” Reyes added. “Marcus Douthit can’t play with June Mar on the floor. They will alternate. That’s why we love Andray Blatche because he can play with June Mar. He can play outside and June Mar can take care of the inside.”

Year 2017 will be a busy one for Gilas Pilipinas where it competes in the SEABA, the FIBA Asia Championship, the SEA Games, the Jones Cup and the start of the new qualifying process for the 2019 World Cup in November.

“We have to win the SEABA as we’re not a shoo-in in FIBA Asia. So 2017 is a fun year for us. There’s a lot to be looked forward to,” said Reyes.

Reyes said he’s likely to play different set of 12 players on the various tournaments that they will play.

“There are no hard and fast rules on the composition of the 12. It will defend on the kind of the tournament, competition and on the condition of the players,” said Reyes.

He expects the young Gilas players to compete well with the PBA veterans, saying several of them “have a real shot at making the final 12.”