SAN SEBASTIAN’S Ian Sangalang and Ronald Pascual were dropped from the Sinag Pilipinas basketball team bound for the 26th Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in Indonesia for failing to attend the squad’s practice. Head coach Norman Black told the BusinessMirror on Wednesday that the decision to drop the two was not personal but “for the sake of the young team.”
“They just did not show up. And in fairness to the team, we want to win the gold medal. We cannot wait any longer,” said Black. “I already explained to them. It’s nothing personal. They are good players but we have to move on.”
The Sinag team started practicing in early October without the players from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which still had an ongoing tournament. The Stags bowed to the San Beda Red Lions in the finals that ended only last week.
The two attended practice once after the championship series but never showed up this week, forcing Black and his coaching staff to scratch them from the pool.
Sangalang and Pascual reportedly told the coaching staff that they could go back to training only on Wednesday, which obviously was not acceptable to team officials.
“From the very beginning, I told them that they have to attend practice regularly,” said Black, who informed the two of the team’s decision on Tuesday morning. “Anyway, we have a pool of 18 players and I think we’ll be fine.”
Red Lions Garvo Lanete and Jake Pascual immediately joined the Sinag practice right after getting two days of rest from the NCAA season.
With Sangalang and Pascual out, San Beda’s Dave Marcelo is expected to join the pool and give Black at least another big man.
Naturalized player Marcus Douthit was considered on the team but begged off because of his commitment with a club in the Chinese Basketball Association.
Marcelo was actually part of the original training pool as a replacement for Aldrech Ramos, who turned down the invitation to play in the SEA Games in favor of a stint with the Philippine Patriots in the Asean Basketball League (ABL).
“He’s [Marcelo] a bit undersized but he is strong,” Black said of the Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the NCAA men’s basketball championship series.
The team trains at the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center inside the Ateneo campus and will play tune-up games this weekend against San Miguel Beer of the ABL and Cobra Energy Drink of the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League.
Other members of the pool are Ateneo’s Chris Tiu, Kiefer Ravena, Greg Slaughter, Nico Salva, Justin Chua, Emman Monfort and Chris Newsome, Far Eastern University’s RR Garcia, University of Santo Tomas’s backcourt tandem of Jeric Teng and Jeric Fortuna, Bobby Ray Parks of National University and Filipino-Americans Chris Ellis, Clifford Hodge, JR Buencuceso and Keith Jensen. (Joel Orellana)
