Back to work for Gilas women

MANILA, Philippines — Gilas women’s head coach Pat Aquino is calling for practice on Monday, less than a week after arriving from Sydney where the team marked a breakthrough with a first-ever sixth place finish in Division A of the FIBA Asia Cup. The squad returned home last Tuesday morning and will take a brief rest before reporting back to work at the Aero Center in Quezon City for a two-hour morning session.

Jack Animam will use the next few days to chill while Afril Bernardino and Janine Pontejos check in for military duty. Bernardino is with the Navy and Pontejos, the Army. Fil-Am Vanessa de Jesus flew back to the US from Sydney last Monday and will play her final season with Duke University in NCAA D-1. Gilas’ next tournament is the Jones Cup in Taipei on Aug. 5-9.

Aquino said Gilas is staying sharp for the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Sept. 23-Oct. 8. It will be the country’s first participation in Asian Games women’s basketball in 25 years and second overall. “We submitted a list of about 30 players for the pool just for safety in case some players decline or can’t play due to injuries or some other reason,” said Aquino. “The Jones Cup will be part of our preparation for the Asian Games. Since the eligibility for the Asian Games is like the SEA Games, we can bring in players with Philippine passports regardless of when they were issued.”

Although the Philippines may enlist naturalized imports for the Asian Games, Aquino said he’s sticking to a policy of recruiting only Fil-foreigners. In the recent SEA Games, gold medalist Indonesia was bannered by two imports Kimberley Pierre-Louis and Peyton Whitted while the Philippines showed up with only one Fil-Am Stefanie Berberabe.

In the FIBA Asia Cup, eligibility was restricted to one naturalized player. “We tried to appeal Berberabe because we wanted to bring her to Sydney but to no avail,” said Aquino.

Berberabe and De Jesus were born in the US to Filipino parents but received their passports after 16 so they’re classified as naturalized by FIBA. For the Asian Games, Aquino plans to enlist Berberabe, De Jesus and two other Fil-Ams Malia Bambrick and Mai Loni Henson.