...but it will all start with this ridiculous draft that is going on. It is weird in every single way. It is confusing. It is baffling. It is so JaVale McGee-ish.
Yeah, at first it was a bright idea coming from Mr. Uytengsu that the Gilas 4.5 (Mac Belo and co.) dudes are subjected to a special draft. But that's because of consideration that the past Gilas players (Jayson Castro and co.) won't play in FIBA anymore. That Gilas will all stick to the 4.5 guys from here on. That is good! Because pulling them out every time the FIBA window comes would be as easy as a Japeth Aguilar slam dunk.
Enter Coach Chot Reyes... a man that we can say huli ang kiliti ng PBA Board of Governors. He managed each team to commit a player to the national team. And so, the past Gilas are suddenly back in the picture! Now what happens to the Gilas 4.5? They're now true neutral professional basketball players. Gilas 4.5 is now gone, Mac Belo and company are now past Gilas players too...
...at least in my eyes... or perhaps in yours as well.
So the special draft would now be as pointless as hell since everybody has a chance to be a part of the pool. But the PBA said...
"One player per team plus the Gilas 4.5 is equal to the 24-man pool for the specific FIBA window."
And they're going to push through with it. And it's quite nuts. Look...
1) The best (and perhaps the only… sorry Greg.) pure big man and the best shooter in the league right now is playing for the same team. Those are two most important ingredients for a succesfull FIBA basketball team. Following the current PBA guidelines, June Mar Fajardo might be bumped in favor of Fonzo Gotladera or Marcio Lassiter might be bumped in favor of Kevin Ferrer (YIKES!).
2) The abundance of world-class caliber guards in the Philippines right now: Jayson Castro (best PG in Asia but no MVP award in his own league), LA Tenorio, Terrence Romeo, Paul Lee, Kiefer Ravena. Those should be automatic shoo-ins in the pool. If you like to insert the Gilas 4.5 point guards here already, then you'll have Jio Jalalon and Mike Tolomia. Yeah, those are two fantastic guys leading their respective college teams... but would you rather prioritize these guards first before the two?
*Mark Barroca - just needs a smart coach.
*Chris Ross, Alex Cabagnot, Chris Banchero, and Stan Pringle - eligibility issues.
*RR Garcia - game improved upon transfer to Star.
*Scottie Thompson - becomes a ghost every time the ball is up for a rebound and suddenly becomes human again and grabs that rebound.
*and others I forgot to mention… you might have somebody else included in here.
If coach Chot got fed up with these tons of choices, he might end up calling Jimmy Alapag again... that is a possibility!
3) Mac Belo, Russel Escoto, Arnold Van Opstal, and Carl Bryan Cruz were the frontliners of that team. And they are quite the same height as Gabe Norwood, BR Parks, Troy Rosario, Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, Jared Dillinger, JC Intal, Jordan Clarkson, Calvin Abueva (the smallest in the mentioned players), and Japeth Aguilar (the tallest). Get them together in a pool and Belo et.al. will have to play as wing guys too, for they will have no business staying in the shaded lane banging bodies with Andrew Bogut, David Andersen, Aron Baynes, Isaac Fotu and more (Hello FIBA Oceania!).
4) The naturalized guy. Two spots; one for Andray, one for the other guy. I'd pick Liam McMorrow (the Barako Bull import) if I were to pick one right now. But for sure they'll find somebody else.
And to add more wreckage to that special draft, which already happened in extremely ridiculous circumstances (Read some news. Read @musongcastillo tweets on Twitter. Do it RIGHT NOW!), those 12 guys in the special draft are not surefire first rounders if they are included in the normal draft. Since the special draft already happened, some of the would-be first-rounders on Sunday's draft will appear that they doesn't deserve to be picked in the first round, and some of the would-be second-rounders perhaps would appear that they aren't ready for the big league yet. It's a weak draft more weakend by the special draft.
Like I promised... this is a Gilas 5.0 item. So this must be the perfect opportunity for me to explain the perfect solution (for me) regarding the Gilas situation and the new FIBA format. The compound word that I have been shouting on Twitter all year long... the MEGAPOOL!
What is the MEGAPOOL (it is so intense that it should be written in all caps all the time)?
The MEGAPOOL will consist of the best eligible Filipino Basketball players playing in and out of the PBA (Hello Kiefer! Hello Kobe! Hello Jordan! Hello other guys that were signed by the SBP!). The number? I'm thinking of 48 guys. Yes! FOUR TEAMS! All of the players who are included in the MEGAPOOL are required to join once-a-week practices either as the actual player practicing or the player observing. It's like this week, 24 guys will be practicing, the other 24 will be observing, taking notes, studying the game plan (I think these ways will help a lot in improving a player's basketball IQ), etc. The next week, the 24 guys that observed last week will be the players, and the other 24 will be observing. Their only reason not to attend the weekly practice/observation sessions should be playing overseas, or legitimately injured. Players who'll refuse to play for flag or play sick to avoid national team duties should be ashamed of themselves, have their GAB licenses revoked, and get an earful of curses from President Duterte.
When the FIBA window period comes, the 24-man pool required by FIBA will be composed by the players from the eliminated teams of the on-going season of the PBA and others available guys that are overseas, of course including the naturalized guy or an NBA guy if possible. Upon checking FIBA's website, the windows dates are already available, and these are the possible composition of the team with these dates!
*20-28 November 2017 - 2017-18 PBA season should start after this window. The upcoming 2016-17 PBA season should end by the first week of September to give way to the players. Best Pinoy players are all available.
*19-27 February 2018 - End of the Philippine Cup. Only the semi-finalists of that conference won't be available. But that won't be a problem because we have a MEGAPOOL!
*25 June-3 July 2018 - End of the Invitational Cup (more of this on my next column). Only the semi-finalists of that conference won't be available. Jordan Clarkson is available, because the Lakers won't reach the finals that year for sure, and in addition, we have the MEGAPOOL!
*10-18 September 2018 - End of the Fiesta Cup (more of this on my next column). Same thing as the previous window, but the 2018-19 PBA Season should start early or immediately after this window with the same Fiesta Cup because the next window would be on...
*26 November-4 December 2018 - End of the 2018-19 Fiesta Cup. Same thing as the previous window, but no Jordan Clarkson, but we have a MEGAPOOL!
*18-28 February 2019 - 2018-19 Philippine Cup pre-playoffs. Kung kailan huling window na, dun pa tumama sa gitna. Pero okay lang kasi we have a MEGAPOOL! But admittedly, this is the most difficult window to build a team among the present window.
By the last week of June, the 2018-19 PBA Season should be done because...
*September 2019 - 2019 FIBA World Cup; at stake: top Asia Finisher (not including Australia or New Zealand) will directly qualify for the Olympics.
Is this solid planning or what? But, like what I told you in the title, this item is all about Gilas 5.0...
Next column, PBA, in the wonderful words of Bill Goldberg... "YOU'RE NEXT!"
MEGAPOOL!!!!!!!!!!!
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follow the writer on Twitter and Instagram: @sportscastengr... MEGAPOOL!!!!!!!!!
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