Andray Blatche. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Chot Reyes will submit his 12-man roster to Fiba Asia by 12 noon on Tuesday, and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas is cramming to convince Andray Blatche to sign up as the former NBA star has been reluctant in joining the team in the Aug, 8-20 regional showcase in Lebanon.
Two different sources told the Inquirer that Blatche has yet to get on board even with just over two weeks left before the country tries to win the Asian Championship for the first time in 44 years with a team backstopped by the best talents in the PBA.
This, despite the SBP reportedly being forced to bite the bullet, so to speak, with Blatche commanding a very high price to again play for the country.
Blatche has been Gilas’ naturalized player since the 2014 World Cup in Spain where he helped the Filipinos win their first game – an overtime thriller over Senegal – in the classification phase in over 40 years.
The SBP had the rest of Monday and the morning of Tuesday to convince Blatche and his handlers as Reyes has to beat the deadline, otherwise, the cage body could be forced to tap Christian Standhardinger in the place of the former Brooklyn Net in the NBA.
Should this happen, the 6-foot-8 Standhardinger would be playing two events in three weeks as he would also be suiting up in the Southeast Asian Games a week later.
An obvious reason for Blatche’s reluctance, according to one of the sources, is the peace and order situation in Beirut, the Lebanese capital where the games will be held.
Reigning three-time MVP June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer, Japeth Aguilar of Barangay Ginebra, Alaska’s Calvin Abueva, Terrence Romeo of GlobalPort and TNT KaTropa’s Jayson Castro are considered shoo-ins for the Asian Championship squad.
The PBA had agreed a few days ago to go “all in” for Gilas as Reyes now has a free hand to assemble the best team possible in a tournament where Australia and New Zealand will play in for the first time after Fiba had merged the Asia and Oceania regions.
Meanwhile, Reyes and the rest of the Gilas team that finished fourth in the Jones Cup in Taipei planed in home on Monday morning and the coach is set to have a meeting with the SBP leadership and his assistant coaches to be able to finalize the lineup.
As of now, Fiba already has a 24-man list – Blatche and Standhardinger included – forwarded by the SBP a few weeks back, and from there, Gilas’ final roster will come.
Standhardinger is scheduled to play in the Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur on Aug, 20 together with some members of the Jones Cup team led by amateurs Kiefer Ravena, Bobby Ray Parks, Raymar Jose and Kobe Paras.
Baser Amer, who is playing with Meralco, and Troy Rosario, a mainstay of TNT KaTropa, will join Ravena and Co. as they try to win the Philippines’ 18th cage gold medal in Malaysia.
Considering the SEAG lineup, Reyes will have just 15 men to choose from for the Fiba Asia team, meaning he would need to just cut three men, one of them being the off-form Mac Belo, the top pick in the last PBA Draft.