The Philippines has returned to the global stage. But preparation leading up to the 17th FIBA World Cup next year will be nothing as regimented as training the national team went through for the 27th FIBA Asia Championship at the Mall of Asia Arena.
If at all, the Gilas Pilipinas players will bid each other farewell in a day or two, return to their respective ballclubs to resume their PBA careers on Wednesday, and be reunited for flag and country no earlier than August next year.
That’s 12 months after they accomplished a near impossible mission in the Asian championship, conquered long-time tormentor South Korea in the semifinals Saturday, August 10 and qualified to the world championship in front of a weeping, deliriously ecstatic hometown crowd.
But instead of the two months which Gilas Pilipinas coaches and the PBA Board of Governors agreed on for the FIBA Asia tournament, the Nationals will probably have just enough time to pack their bags before leaving on a jet plane for Spain.
And that’s due to the already compressed PBA calendar.
The 2012-13 Governors’ Cup, set back more than eight weeks from its original schedule to accommodate PH team training and the 11-day tournament proper, will commence two days from now followed by a short post-season break and the three-conference 2013-14 season.
Even international tournaments, like the next William Jones Cup where the Philippines was “uninvited’’ last month by Chinese Taipei organizers at the height of the diplomatic row between the two countries, might not find room in the constricted PBA schedule.
PH coach Chot Reyes said he will meet with PBA officials right after the tournament to address the matter.
Reyes said Gilas Pilipinas’ demands this time won’t be as disrupting. ‘’Obviously I’d like to ask for more time,’’ he said. ‘’Hopefully maka-alis kami a week or two in the run-up para bumiyahe kasi laking bagay sa’min yon.’’ /MP
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