IS Chot Reyes out as Gilas Pilipinas head coach?
The writing on the wall hinted he is, as the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) has formed a search and selection committee that will pick the head coach of the men’s national team during the federation’s executive committee meeting on Tuesday.
SBP Executive Director Sonny Barrios, however, told the BusinessMirror Reyes could remain in the equation if the committee includes his name on its short list.
According to Barrios, SBP President Manuel V. Pangilinan wanted a “participative and consultative approach” for the search for the next Gilas coach.
Reyes was heavily criticized for Gilas’s disastrous performance in last month’s Incheon 17th Asian Games, where the team finished seventh. What made things worse was Reyes’s instruction for tthe infamous “own goal” naturalized player Marcus Douthit made during a crucial match with Kazakhstan.
Barrios stressed Reyes “was not fired” and that the Incheon controversy was not discussed during the SBP meeting.
“Not a single time was Coach Chot’s name mentioned in the meeting,” Barrios said. “What MVP wants is a democratic selection of the Gilas head coach.”
The committee, Barrios said, is responsible for picking not one but two head coaches for major competitions next year.
The first head coach will handle a team of Philippine Basketball Association players that will vie in the Asia qualifier for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics in China in August. The second coach will steer a team that will take part in other international or regional tournaments, including the 28th Southeast Asian Games in Singapore in June.
The committee is composed of Pangilinan, SBP Chairman Ricky Vargas and PBA Commissioner Chito Salud, Board Chairman Patrick Gregorio and Vice Chairman Robert Non, and Barrios.
Also thoroughly discussed during the meeting was SBP’s expanded grassroots development program, with Pangilinan outlining his plan to “undertake an all-encompassing overall nationwide program” for the next two years. The SBP head urged SBP’s regional leaders to take a more active role in “crafting the program for implementation in their own backyards.”
The novel 3×3 format, which Fiba is actively pushing via the multileg Masters Tour as a means to spread the gospel of the game, will also get a major boost across the country, especially in the towns and municipalities.