SBP: Mix of PBA, cadets best way to go for Gilas in ‘bigger’ Fiba tournaments

FILE – SBP President Al Panlilio. INQUIRER PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Al Panlilio thinks going with the young talents from the current Gilas Pilipinas training pool coupled with PBA stars is still the best option to go in “bigger” Fiba tournaments like the World Cup.

Panlilio put a premium on “sustainability” as far as fielding teams is concerned.

“For the bigger tournaments, I think we can find a way to inject this program with the best players in the country, the PBA players. So I guess it’s really developing this young core of PBA players, make them battle-ready, and if you inject them with three, four, five veterans, eventually I think we can be very competitive internationally,” Panlilio said on Noli Eala’s Power & Play.

“For me, I think If we can see a split between the cadets and PBA players, six-six, or seven-five or whatever, because for me, it’s all about the sustainability of the program so I want to look at it long term beyond 2023,” he added.

So far, the SBP has been able to make do with a team minus PBA players in the second window of the Fiba Asia Cup where Gilas Pilipinas went 2-0 against Thailand.

The SBP is again set to send an all-cadet team in a couple of tournaments in June in the final window of the Fiba Asia Cup which will be held here in Clark and the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade.