Salud ready to meet SBP on Gilas plan

SEOUL, South Korea—After the debacle suffered by Gilas Pilipinas in the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, the Philippine Basketball Association will review its support to the national team program.

“I think this is a very critical period for our national team program,” PBA commissioner Chito Salud said after meeting with team representatives here. “We want all stakeholders to be able to give their inputs and we want all of them to be heard.”

The Philippines won its first World Cup game in four decades last month in Spain and was touted to be among the title favorites in the Asiad until it finished a humbling seventh on Wednesday with a win over Mongolia.

Salud and the board are aware of basketball fans’ sentiments back home and though he wouldn’t dwell on the specifics, the commissioner said he wants to discuss matters with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas first.

“Please allow us the consultation process that we want to undergo,” Salud said. “We had a very good discussion (in the board meeting) but at this time, I will not discuss these inputs until after the matter has been fully resolved.”

Meanwhile, the PBA’s 40th Season opens on Oct. 19 at Philippine Arena in Bocuae, Bulacan, with the Philippine Cup, its longest tournament for the year.

The 12 teams will play a single-round elimination with only the two bottom teams failing to advance.