Exposure to the elements

The young blood of Gilas Pilipinas (from left to right) Ange Kouame (with ball), Rhenz Abando, SJ Belangel and Carl Tamayo, will be thrown into the fire by Chot Reyes next month. —photos from UAAP and NCAA MEDIA.

With the Philippines already qualified for the 2023 Fiba (International Basketball Federation) World Cup (WC) being a co-host, a newly-assembled crop of young collegiate standouts is set to represent the country in the WC Asian Qualifiers and the Fiba Asia Cup in July with Letran’s Rhenz Abando looming as one of the spearheads.

Less than two weeks removed from being named the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) first Rookie-MVP in seven years, the 6-foot-2 Abando on Sunday got the call up from Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes to be part of the talent pool, which will be heavily prepped not only for those two international tournaments but also for the World Cup next year.

The PBA will be opening its 47th Season on June 5 and will be well into its Philippine Cup schedule when those two tournaments are played, and PBA commissioner Willie Marcial also believes that this is the right thing to do for Gilas to be more cohesive.

“Since we are already qualified, I think they (Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas) are trying to expose all the young players to build chemistry,” Marcial told the Inquirer over the phone on Sunday. “I think it’s the most logical thing to do because we all want cohesiveness for the team.”

Still ready to help

Marcial said that though the PBA will not pause the PH Cup for those two tournaments slated in New Zealand and Jakarta, respectively, the league will still be there to help, with a “hybrid” team earlier agreed upon.

That hybrid team could be the nucleus of one PBA squad that will be augmented by the young talents that Reyes tapped recently, counting Abando.

Abando, the one-time University of Santo Tomas star in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) who transferred to Intramuros, averaged a shade under 16 points and 6.3 rebounds in a 12-0 season for the Knights despite being almost always the top defensive assignment for the opposing squad.

“We already have a pool that we’re going to announce soon for the next [Fiba World Cup Qualifiers] window and the Fiba Asia [Cup]. That is going to be composed mostly of college players [from UAAP] and NCAA players who were unable to join us here [in Hanoi]. So that’s next,” Reyes told reporters shortly after the Philippines lost the gold medal to Indonesia in the 31st Southeast Asian Games earlier this month.

Prior experience

Also invited for camp that is set to start on Wednesday are Lebron Lopez, Ateneo’s SJ Belangel and Dave Ildefonso, Carl Tamayo and James Spencer of the UAAP champion University of the Philippines and La Salle’s Justine Baltazar, who a week ago signed with Japan B.League club Hiroshima.

Tamayo, Ildefonso, Belangel and Baltazar have previously suited up for a young Gilas squad coached by Tab Baldwin. That team swept the Asia Cup Qualifiers—including two resounding victories against old tormentor South Korea—in June last year.

Thirdy Ravena and Dwight Ramos are shaping up as shoo-ins for the young brigade, as Japan’s B.League won’t be on until October. Both players have been identified by Reyes as cornerstones of the program.

And unlike in Hanoi where Reyes tapped Mo Tautuaa as the country’s naturalized player, Ange Kouame will be available for those two tournaments with Tautuaa playing for San Miguel Beer in the PBA and the UAAP already concluded.