Gilas 3

No Kraken? No problem!
(Photo credits to the owner)

The Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas (SBP) has finally sent an official request to the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) for the following players to be part of head coach Tab Baldwin's Gilas 3 men's basketball team:

Jayson Castro, Ranidel de Ocampo, Gary David, Gabe Norwood, Aldrech Ramos, Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, Kelly Williams, Asi Taulava, Terrence Romeo, JC Intal, Sonny Thoss, Dondon Hontiveros, Calvin Abueva, June Mar Fajardo* (injured/recuperating), Marc Pingris* (on official leave-family matters), LA Tenorio* (health reasons)

* - already begged off

Ladies and gentlemen, your Gilas 3 (more or less) for the coming FIBA Asia tournament this September 23 in China.

It's highly doubtful that Fajardo, Tenorio and Pingris can suit up given the circumstances, so the sooner that the Filipino basketball community can come to terms with the above line-up, the better. There is no point in crying over who should've been there for whom, so it's time we let Coach Tab and this roster focus on the task at hand.

Here's a quick report/ our thoughts on the players:

The holdovers

Jayson Castro, PG
Castro is a given as he will be the linchpin to the Gilas' whole offensive sets alongside reinforcement Andray Blatche

Gary David, SG
We need shooters. And though he had a tough 2013 outing, David is still one of the best we have-- available. He had a solid 2014-2015 year, hopefully it carries over to the tournament.

Gabe Norwood,
Norwood has always been at his best a.k.a FIBA Gabe on both ends of the floor when playing internationally. Should continue to be at his best now that there are guys- studs in Rosser and Abueva, looking to take his minutes.

Ranidel de Ocampo
RdO is and has been the standard-bearer for all Pinoy power forwards, only fitting that he gets called for another run.

The returnees 

Dondon Hontiveros, SG
Though we are going to miss Jeff Chan's insane ability to knock down four-point plays, Hontiveros is a proven marksman who can also hold his own on defense. In the previous incarnations of the national team, Hontiveros has always been forced to play small forward and try to score against and guard bigger guys. With Norwood and Rosser on board, we will finally be able to see Hontiveros the shooting guard.

Kelly Williams, PF
When healthy, which praise the Lord he is and has been the last few years, Williams by himself is already a marked improvement over Japeth Aguilar. He can move his feet just like Aguilar, knock down the occassional jumpshot, and more importantly-- rebound and defend with force.

Asi Taulava, C
No Junemar? No problem. It's not like Gilas was going to run the offense through Fajardo, Iran's Haddadi style. No, we have Blatche for that. What we need is an inside muscle, and in the PBA, it doesn't get any bigger and stronger than The Rock.

Sonny Thoss, C

Better than Marc Pingris. Hustle might be a concern, but skills wise, better than Pingris. Not even close.

The new recruits

Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, SF

A young FIBA Gabe with really funky hair; can hold his own on defense, can do just about a little bit of everything on offense.

JC Intal, SF
Sige na nga. Small forward who can make shots. Can drive. Can rebound. Can run. Doesn't put it all together all the time, but when he does...

Aldrech Ramos, PF

Sige na nga, part 2. A stretch forward who can't run. Hell, we had to live with Aguilar for how many years because "he's 6"9 and can dunk on people," so we guess having a more polished and grounded player like Ramos wouldn't hurt.

Ssshhh... wag kayo maingay.
(Photo credits to the owner)

Terrence Romeo, SG

Other than Castro, Romeo is the only PBA point guard we have on board. But he's not there to pass the ball or orchestrate. He's there to serve as the sparkplug/ one-man offense should we go through those long dry spells that haunted Gilas 2 in FIBA Asia, Spain and even in the Asian Games. Point guard? Gabe and MGR can run an offense.

And last but not least...

Calvin Abueva, SF

Para walang scouting report. Para hindi ko tulungan yung ibang bansa na nag reresearch online tungkol sa mga players natin. Basta si Abueva, DI PALULUPIG ANG TANGINA!