PBA makes adjustments for Smart Gilas

The 27th FIBA Asia Basketball Tournament is set to be held in Manila, Philippines; on August 1-11, 2013. The top three finishers of the FIBA Asia Tournament will qualify to participate in the World Championships in Spain in 2014.

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), through its Board of Governors, has resolved to make adjustments in order to support Smart Gilas Pilipinas, the Philippines’ National Basketball team.

Smart Gilas’ coach, Chot Reyes, has been given more flexibility to decide the composition of the team. The PBA has also decided to shorten its Governor’s Cup, which is slated to be held from May 12 to July 28.

The league’s commissioner, Chito Salud, has stated that Reyes will have a free hand to revise the team if he sees a need and that it is Reyes’ call to do so. In line with this, Salud has put forth the following proposal:

 “My proposal is one player per team in the spirit of broad and equitable representation. An addendum is if a team is willing to lend one or more players, go ahead. And if in the judgment of the coach he doesn’t need a player from any team, so be it,” Salud pointed out.

This gives Reyes the option to modify the 10-man unit he formed that won the 2012 Jones Cup in Taipei, Taiwan.

The details on exactly how much the Governor’s Cup will be compressed are said to follow, but it is certain that an end date of July 28 will not be a feasible amount of time for the members of the National Team to prepare for the FIBA Asia Championships.