Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes is planning to assemble a team composed mostly of players from rival collegiate leagues UAAP and NCAA for the upcoming 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers window and the FIBA Asia Cup.
Speaking publicly for the first time since the Philippines lost the gold medal game to Indonesia at the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Reyes told PlayItRight TV on Wednesday the PBA will be unable to lend its players for the two tournaments with its 47th season set to kick off on June 5.
"In our plans, it is going to be composed mostly of UAAP and NCAA players because the PBA is gonna be ongoing at that time," Reyes said on PlayItRight TV. "And at the same time, we wanted to really have an opportunity to expose Carl Tamayo, SJ Belangel, Dave Ildefonso, even guys like James Spencer of UP, Justine Baltazar. We really want to expose them to higher level Asian competition. And the view is to prepare them for 2023, for the World Cup in 2023.
So that is the plan. It's that group composed mostly of the younger players in the UAAP and the NCAA together with Dwight Ramos and Thirdy Ravena. I think Kiefer [Ravena] will be available as well, with Francis Lopez. We're planning to send them to the FIBA Asia competition."
As co-host, the Philippines has already qualified for the 2023 FIBA World Cup but still needs to participate in the Asian Qualifiers windows. In the next window, the Philippines takes on New Zealand in Auckland on June 30 and India in Manila on July 3. In the previous window in February, Gilas beat India, 88-64, but lost to New Zealand, 88-63, in Reyes' first coaching assignments after being tapped to replace Tab Baldwin as head coach.
The FIBA Asia Cup is July 12 to 24 in Jakarta and will feature the top 16 teams in Asia. It is a continental tournament with no qualifying incentives at stake for the teams except host Indonesia, which needs to finish in the top eight in order to automatically qualify for the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Reyes talked about his choices for the 12-man Gilas lineup for the World Cup.
"Obviously, we want Kai Sotto to be there. We want Jordan Clarkson to be there. I've already said that I think the future is Thirdy Ravena and Dwight Ramos. June Mar Fajardo is certainly going to merit inclusion in that group as well. Other than that, we are using the time now to take a look at who else is worthy of making that squad. But it's a work in progress. We're still a pretty long ways from making a final determination."
Reyes said he has a commitment from the PBA to allow a minimum three-month preparation period for the World Cup, scheduled for August 25 to September 10 next year.
"Right now, our discussion with PBA commissioner Willie Marcial is a minimum three months preparation for the 2023 World Cup. When 2023 comes around, all of the players, everyone is making a commitment to three months full training (in) preparation for the World Cup."