Contingency Plan

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!
(Photo credit to the owner)

Today marks the very first time that we will be able to see (or at the very least, read about) a proud 17-man pool of legitimate PBA All Stars worthy of the Gilas Pilipinas jersey practicing together. Not to say that those who came before them were not up to par, but to be very blunt about it some guys were there only because player A or B was not allowed by their ball club.

Well, the league has made it known that they are all in on this one.

Players from San Miguel Corporation-- San Miguel Beer, STAR, Ginebra, now offer no alibis or excuses. Players who were held back because of nasty, piracy rumors, are now reporting for duty with no more drama whatsoever coming from anyone. Here is your Gilas OQT 17 man pool:

MVP June Mar Fajardo and Marcio Lassiter of San Miguel Beer; Greg Slaughter, Japeth Aguilar and LA Tenorio of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel; Paul Lee, Jeff Chan and Gabe Norwood of Rain or Shine; Jayson Castro, Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, Troy Rosario, Ranidel De Ocampo and Ryan Reyes of Talk ‘N Text; Marc Pingris and Ian Sangalang of Star; Calvin Abueva of Alaska and Terrence Romeo of GlobalPort.

Now if that isn't all star and world class enough for you, then we don't know what to tell you really.

BUT...

... and we are not trying to play devil's advocate here or anything, maybe they can consider adding a couple more players. Just in case. We already lost one member in Ranidel de Ocampo who suffered an unfortunate injury just recently, so it might be wise for Coach Tab Baldwin to keep a few players' numbers on speed dial.

Here are some PBA players who we feel should be considered, although technically guys are battling for 11 slots (one belongs to Andray Blatche; and if we can somehow work some unicorn magic on Jordan Clarkson's Filipino passport, the PBA guys are battling only for a brutal 10 spots).

1. Raymond Almazan, C, Rain or Shine
How and why this guy was not invited the first time around is beyond us. Standing 6"7 but looking more and more every day like a legitimate 6"9 athlete, Almazan is an established shot blocker who has great experience guarding (and holding his own) against African/ foreign centers since college while possessing a great soft touch. Basically, he is a more polished Troy Rosario.

2. Alex Cabagnot, PG, San Miguel Beer
Is he eligible? It has never been addressed really, since Cabagnot has (quite oddly) always flown under the radar when it comes to all things National team. In case you have not been watching or were too busy hating on Cabagnot (like we were the few early SMB years), the guy has been ridiculously awesome since last season. There was a dip in his performance when he was moved from Global Port to San Miguel, but IMHO there is no PG better on the offensive end than the guy who was once called "Cool Whip" only to be baptised by the great Dean Quinito as the cereal box-friendly "Crunchman."

3. Larry Fonacier, SG, Talk 'n' Text
We really don't care if he has terrible knees or whatever. Fonacier's basketball IQ is by far one of the best in the whole PBA among his peers. He is basically the new age Alaska Jojo Lastimosa-- cool in the clutch, always making the correct plays here and there, calm, focused and a proven winner. If you look closely at the 17-man pool, there seems to be a bit of a shortage when it comes to shooters, with only Chan and Lassiter there. Wouldn't mind an insurance policy like Fonacier who can play both offense AND defense.

4. Dondon Hontiveros, SG, Alaska 
See Fonacier, but with a sexier Cebuano accent and bigger eyes.

5. Brian Heruela, PG, San Miguel Beer  
The KKS christened "Hurricane." Dark horse pick. Size. Strength. Some range. Passing. Defense. This guy is a sleeper and sadly being wasted as a 3rd option in SMB's rotation (he'll quickly surpass Chris Ross in minutes; trust us). Let's face it, every single year there is always a real 60-40% chance that Ryan Reyes gets hurt. It's in his nature unfortunately. So instead of Reyes, why not go with a guy who is built the same way and already has some familiarity with Gilas cornerstone Fajardo?

Who else do you think should be shown some Gilas love? If ever?