THE Gilas Pilipinas program will remain, but it will undergo a significant upgrade.
This was stressed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) after the federation declared the head coach’s position as vacant and put to task a search and selection committee to find a replacement for Chot Reyes. Fears surfaced that a new program will be in place following the SBP’s decision to create a “Gilas task force” that will make a short list of the candidates for the head coach’s position.
Reyes was not fired, according to the SBP, and his name could be on the list if the committee believes he deserves a second chance at handling the national team.
“The SBP is not dissolving or discontinuing the Gilas program. It is a successful program that has the Philippine Basketball Association’s [PBA] full support,” the federation said in a statement. “The formation by the SBP of a selection committee to choose a head coach for the Gilas national team, to create a pool of players from which the national team can draw and to synchronize the PBA calendar and the Gilas national training schedule is a proof of strong collaboration effort on the part of the SBP and the PBA, its team owners and governors, as well as other stakeholders, to fine-tune the Gilas basketball program,” the statement furthered.
Even Reyes was assured by the SBP that the program will continue and he supported the federation’s decision to have a broader consultation with the basketball community to improve the Gilas program.
“As to whether I will continue to be the Gilas coach or not depends on the SBP board under whose mandate I have served since being appointed as head coach since 2012,” Reyes said. After leading the country to the International Basketball Federation World Cup for the first time in 40 years, Reyes drew heavy criticism after the team’s disastrous campaign in the Asian Games in Incheon, where it booked its worst finish at seventh spot.
But more than its poor outing in Incheon, Reyes drew flak for benching and blaming Marcus Douthit on separate occasions and for ordering that infamous Douthit “own goal” against Kazakhstan.
SBP Executive Director Sonny Barrios said Reyes was not fired and that federation President Manuel V. Pangilinan wanted to have a “consultative and participative” approach in searching for a new Gilas coach.
“The objective of the selection committee is clear—to consolidate the gains of the existing program and to chart a strategic course to improve its current performance. This process will adopt a systematic, methodical and inclusive approach to ensure that Philippine basketball becomes more competitive international both in the short and long term,” the SBP said.