No PBA players will join the Gilas Pilipinas teams set to compete in the third window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers and in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Serbia in June.
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) president Al Panlilio said Tuesday that the national team will be represented instead by an all-cadet team in both tournaments.
Leading a possible pool of 20 to 25 players are the five special Gilas draftees from the 2019 Draft in Isaac Go, Allyn Bulanadi, Rey Suerte and Mike and Matt Nieto, along with the four Gilas selections in the March draft in Will Navarro, Jaydee Tungcab, Tzaddy Rangel and Jordan Heading.
NBA aspirant Kai Sotto and naturalized player candidate Angelo Kouame are also in the mix along with other collegiate stars yet to be named in a deep pool. Training is projected to begin at the end of March, said Panlilio.
"He's part of the list. We just have to talk to him. We haven't finalized our calendar yet but once we do, we will share with him what the plan is and depending on what he's doing, align that with others. But as I've said in the past, he's welcome to join us," Panlilio said of Sotto.
Gilas will vie for a spot in the Tokyo Olympics, but the field of competition is tough as they're grouped with Serbia and Domican Republic in the Belgrade tournament in Group A.
On the other hand, the Philippines is in a better spot in the Asia Cup qualifiers, where Gilas (3-0) just needs one more win against either South Korea or Indonesia to advance to the Cup proper.
Panlilio said the decision to field an all-cadet team was made in consideration to the PBA's calendar, which will run through both FIBA tournaments. The Asia Cup window initially scheduled this March has been moved yet again to mid-June, while the OQT is already dated June 28 to July 4.
This means that the plans to add Gilas as a guest team competing for a title in one of the two conferences have been scrapped, although Panlilio and PBA chairman Ricky Vargas said SBP is still hoping to get the national team to play a couple of non-bearing games in the Philippine Cup.
"There are two options we're looking at. One is we're thinking of having a pocket tournament maybe before the June window," said Panlilio. "Maybe two PBA teams can join the pocket tournament, a two or three-day tournament."
"The other proposal also is that we can have some games with PBA teams during actual conferences. That's something we'll have to work with commissioner Willie (Marcial) on how we can do that," Panlilio continued.
Joining that planned pocket tournament before the two tournaments are some interested countries who will play some Asia Cup games that the Philippines will host in June.
"We're thinking of bringing in Japan," said Panlilio. I think they're coming to the FIBA Asia Cup window in the Philippines in June. We can ask them to come a week earlier so they can participate in a pocket tournament."
"If that pushes through, they are inviting two PBA teams to join it," Vargas added. "They're also open to joining the PBA as a guest team to play a number of games that will not affect their schedule."
Panlilio clarified that the long-term goal for the 2023 World Cup is to still have a roster bolstered by PBA players.
"We want to develop our young players but at a certain point in the future, obviously we have to consider a few PBA players to be part of our team," he said.
This story has been updated.