Fate of Cone-Chua encore rests on SBP, alignment of stakeholders’ schedules

Alfrancis Chua stresses a point during the press conference. —MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

The success of the Philippine men’s basketball team in the Asian Games (Asiad) has drawn a clamor for two of the architects of the golden run to reprise their roles in future international tournaments.

Alfrancis Chua said that is still up for discussion.

Chua, the San Miguel Corp. sports director who served as the team manager for the squad that captured the country’s first basketball gold in the continental showcase is leaving his future with the program in the hands of Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).

“For now, I’m not thinking about it,” he said in Filipino during a press briefing held at the Philippine Basketball Association’s (PBA) headquarters in Libis, Quezon City.

“The SBP has many figures. This [involvement] accidentally happened because PBA chair (Ricky Vargas) and my namesake (SBP president Al Panlilio) reached out and asked that we handle [the bid] together. That’s why we referred [to this collaboration as] ‘Voltes V.’ That’s it. But for what my plan is now, I say there’s none, because that’s the [SBP]’s thing,” he added.

Chua joined the China bid also as a fulfillment of a condition set by Tim Cone, the seasoned mentor who calls the shots for Barangay Ginebra—a club the animated executive represents in the PBA board.

Cone, a close pal and a deputy to former national coach Chot Reyes during the World Cup, had said that he accepted the invite to mentor Nationals in the continental showpiece on the condition that it was only a temporary gig and that Chua was with him on the sidelines in Hangzhou.

Chua was less vague when asked about Cone returning to coach the national squad.

Summit floated

“Actually we just asked him to coach this team,” he said, referring to the Asiad squad.

“If he coaches the national team, again, it depends on the schedule. You have to understand that the guy can’t coach [the national team] and then coach in the PBA. We’ll have the PBA and then deal with this? [How are we going to manage] the practices? That’s the main point. How are we going to organize that?”

Chua echoed the words of Vargas, who floated the idea of another meeting among the sport’s stakeholders, especially with a Fiba tournament kicking off as early as February.

“Maybe we should call for another summit, right? Where the PBA, [representatives from] the [University Athletic Association of the Philippines], and the [National Collegiate Athletic Association] are all there,” said Vargas, who is also the SBP’s vice president.

“The first thing we have to decide on is [aligning] our calendars to be able to make players available. That’s important, making sure they’re available for the country,” Vargas added.

Fiba’s qualifying windows for the next World Cup kicks off on Feb. 19 next year. The Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which is the Philippines’ last chance to make the Paris Summer Games, is set on July 2.

The SBP also called for an all-important meeting among basketball figureheads a year before the Philippines cohosted the Fiba World Cup. That resulted in the PBA and two of the premier varsity leagues adjusting their seasons to allow Reyes and his training squad to prepare for the homestand.