MANILA, Philippines–Just last July, Chris Ross was offering to lend a hand to the national team’s cause.
Two months later, he gets the opportunity to do just that.
San Miguel Beer’s defensive specialist was named part of coach Tim Cone’s pool for the Southeast Asian Games, bringing Ross’ longtime dream of playing for the national team closer to reality.
Ross, 34, joins teammates June Mar Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter, and Christian Standhardinger in a trimmed list that now features the Philippine Basketball Association’s crème de la crème.
“Sometimes, they have eight or nine players … I can just walk over if they call me like 10 minutes before practice. I could just go if they didn’t have enough [men],” Ross candidly said in a previous interview with reporters.
“I could just walk. I can throw a rock and hit Meralco Gym,” he was quoted saying.
In a chat with the Inquirer, Ross couldn’t contain his excitement.
“It’s a blessing to even be mentioned with the other 14 guys!” said Ross an 8-time PBA champion with the vaunted Beermen. “I just hope I can live up to the expectations.”
But Ross, who joins a bunch that also features prolific guards like World Cup veterans LA Tenorio and Asia’s two-time best point guard in Jayson Castro, stressed that he knows what exactly he is getting into.
“I know that we will have very high expectations,” he said.