By Vivem Soriano
Eagle News Service
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) has announced the withdrawal of the national team from the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia next month.
In an announcement released through social media, SBP said the reason for the withdrawal was because “the time and chance to participate in the 2018 Asian Games would not be optimal.”
As late as Thursday afternoon, the SBP and the PBA announced that the Philippines would be represented by the core players of PBA ball club Rain or Shine Elasto Painters who will be reinforced by Gilas cadets and other pro players like Globalport’s Stanley Pringle and SMB center and 4-time MVP June Mar Fajardo.
Fil-Am Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jordan Clarkson was also included in the provisional lineup for the Asian Games.
Former Painters coach and current NLEX Road Warriors skipper Yeng Guiao was tapped to lead the squad.
But late Thursday night, it became apparent that the players Guiao was requesting to beef up the core of RoS would be unavailable, according to multiple reports.
The NLEX coach reportedly asked the top brass of both the SBP and the PBA: “Do we really want to send a competitive team team or we just want to send a squad just to participate?”
According to the SBP, the move to pull out was “to allow our national team and organization to regroup, prepare for the process of appealing the FIBA Disciplinary Panel’s recent decision, and aim for sustainable success in future tournaments.”
The only time the Philippines did not participate in the basketball joust of the Asian Games was in 2006, after FIBA suspended the country from participating in any international tournaments due to an internal dispute within its national governing body.
The Talk and Text Katropa were supposed to represent the country in the Asian Games, but the original plan was nixed as Katropa players Jason Castro, Terrence Romeo, Roger Pogoy and Troy Rosario were among the 10 players suspended by the FIBA due to their involvement in the July 2 brawl against the Australian national team during the FIBA Asia World Cup qualifiers.
Also suspended and slapped with fines were Gilas head coach Chot Reyes and assistant Jong Uichico.