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Even though the Philippines won't be hosting the February window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers, the show will go on for Gilas Pilipinas Men. The prospect of playing at home may have just been nixed, but the players training inside the INSPIRE Sports Academy training bubble will continue preparations. "At this point, we continue practicing. The February window can still happen. We're waiting for FIBA, in the next few days or next week, to give us an indication of what's going to happen," clarified Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas President Al Panlilio. "We are hopeful that we can find a solution. FIBA is doing its best to look for another location where we could play the games. FIBA and the entire international basketball community as a whole has been heavily impacted by the effects of the pandemic but we're all working to find ways to push through with the games," he added. Inside the training bubble, Gilas players continue to develop themselves with the bigger picture in mind -- the 2023 FIBA World Cup. "This is really a long-term program. We're building towards the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2023. This is part of the journey that we have embarked on where we wanted to develop younger players together with veterans from the PBA to create a core team that can be competitive in 2023. This is not just practicing for the window but we're looking at building for 2023," stressed Panlilio. The core of the Gilas delegation in the past two windows had been composed of cadets, with chemistry and experience getting better as every game ended. Gilas is at the top of Group A with three wins and no defeats. Despite the change of plans for the February window, the SBP will still await the arrival of Kai Sotto, who had previously expressed his commitment to play for Gilas in the third window. "Kai is committed to join the bubble regardless of whether we play here or elsewhere. He has said that he wanted to be here and we're in talks with him to try and bring him here as soon as possible," Panlilio said. "It's good for him to come in and also learn the system that we're trying to implement in the national team to work with his teammates and have a feel of what the system will be. This will help him and help us, looking at 2023, how we can work towards forming a core team that will be competitive in the World Cup," closed Panlilio.
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