LAST week’s excitement and reality check that the Los Angeles Lakers’ Jordan Clarkson might suit up for the Gilas national team stirred a gamut of sentiments on who should make up the squad.
Those with no problem with an American NBA player with some Filipino blood or who is naturalized through legal means welcomed the possibility of Clarkson being added to the roster. They said that since there are some who did not want to join for one reason or another, the addition of a competition-ready player who’s legit because he has a Filipino passport is a boost to a team already hard-pressed trying to come up with a fighting lineup.
On the other hand, there are those who say, “Here we go again,” trying to come up with a quick-fix solution, instead of a real program for international competition.
This mix of comments is to be expected, especially in an era when most folk are just 140 characters away from a helpful or nasty comment.
To be fair, there is a program in place and it’s called Gilas Pilipinas. It has attempted the formula of getting good college players from here and overseas and giving them a decent naturalized center. When that was found insufficient against beefy international players who were much older and more mature physically, it was time to turn to the PBA to get a pool of players who could play for the Fiba Asia, Asian Games and even the Olympics.
In 2013, a team with a PBA core and a naturalized center in Marcus Douthit won a silver medal and a place in the world championships. A year after and with another naturalized player, Andray Blatche, the team caused a ripple in the World Cup with strong performances against teams ranked so much higher than them.
This is similar with the approach of USA Basketball which has the richest reservoir of the best NBA players. The NBA schedule also sits well with international competition and the league supports the effort because it is subsequently beneficial for the NBA brand. Interestingly, USA Basketball has already begun preparations with summertime practices among previous and upcoming players for the US team.
Gilas attempts to make the program work and needs the support of the PBA for the Philippines to regain its premier position in Asian hoops. If it doesn’t get the players the appointed national coach wants or requires, they will look for those who are willing to play and that includes those from abroad.
In the future, Clarkson may gain explicit permission from the Lakers that he can play for the Philippines. This is the same for the Filipino players in the team who must obtain approval from their mother squads to play for Gilas.
It’s never a smooth journey and you can’t blame Gilas for not trying to form the best possible team, with or without Clarkson. There will be triumphs as well as slips in the decision-making just like in the game it has decided to support.
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