Tuesday, February 06, 2007 RP basketball coach itching to form team By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Staff Reporter
MANILA - With the lifting of the Fiba suspension virtually in the bag, national team head coach Chot Reyes is all up and about for his preparation of the national team.
"This has opened up a lot of possibilities. There are so many international competitions this year and if we want to play in the Olympics, the best time to prepare is now," said Reyes, who was one who made yesterday's Unity Congress at the Dusit Hotel in Makati, a star-studded one.
The congress, which gathered and united warring factions under one roof of the Basketball Associaltion of the Philippines-Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (BAP-SBP), was graced by the who's who in Philippine basketball.
43 of the 85 BAP and Pilipinas Basketball (PB)-sanctioned organizations attended the congress, which also saw players from the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and Ateneo de Manila and San Beda College.
Final stages
"We need to move fast because the other teams are already in the final stages of the preparations, while we are still starting," Reyes added.
PBA commissioner Noli Eala was all smiles after Fiba secretary general Patrick Bauman assured the assembly that the suspension of the basketball body will soon be lifted.
The unification of the PB and BAP completed the three-step process prescribed by Fiba.
"Practice na agad tayo. We will practice hard to get our bearings back in the world ranking," Eala said.
There are three international basketball competitions lined up for the year, which the RP team will be gearing up for. These are the Seaba in May Fiba Asia in Japan on July and the world qualifying in September.
Equal opportunity
Reyes added that they plan to pick the players that will come out on top of the tryouts as they give an equal opportunity to everyone, even the former RP team members need to go through the tryouts first.
"Everyone will have a shot. Our objective is to pick the best possible player to compose the team," said Reyes.
Cebuano basketball hotshot Dondon Hontiveros, who had represented the country in various international competitions, lauded the leaders who set aside their differences for unity.
"It is very admirable because the future of Philippine basketball lies in the hands of the leaders. Now is the best time for the RP team to compete internationally because we our leagues are oozing with talents," Hontiveros said. (MCB)
