With Gilas vets out, Chot assembles ‘young, balanced, versatile’ roster

Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Coach Chot Reyes tried his best to keep his 24-man national team pool to himself for as long as he could.

But some players already knew that they weren’t going to be part of the team days before the announcement on Sunday.

Reyes had given regular mainstays Gabe Norwood, Ranidel de Ocampo, and Marc Pingris a call earlier, thanking them for their serving and informing them that they have been left out of the new pool.

“I talked to the players who did not make the pool and explained to them why they are not there,” said Reyes, who plans to infuse more youth in the Gilas line up.

All three players made imprint with the national team for the past half-decade, most notably at the 2013 Fiba Asia Championship here in Manila, where the Philippines made it to the Finals after an emotional semifinal victory over Korea.

De Ocampo announced his decision to retire from international competition back in July.

With his veterans left out, Reyes expects the leadership mantle to fall on the shoulders of returnees June Mar Fajardo, Jayson Castro, and Japeth Aguilar.

“If you take a look at Jayson, Japeth, and June Mar, they’re all 30 and under but they’ve had a lot of experience already so it’s a great mix,” Reyes said.

Castro is the oldest local in the pool at 30 years old. Aguilar will also be turning 30 on Wednesday while Fajardo is still at his peak at 27.

Though it pains Reyes to leave the three’s names behind, he knows that these changes are necessary to prime the national team for the future.

“It’s young, it’s very balanced, it’s versatile. I think it’s the tallest group of players we can assemble in the country today so I really like it’s composition. I have 100-percent faith in the players we chose that they are committed to the national team program,” he said.