The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas will ring in the new year with a basketball summit in a bid to put all stakeholders on the same page before shooting for a slot in the Paris Olympics next year.
In a short message to Daily Tribune, SBP president Al Panlilio said all basketball stakeholders, including major leagues like the Philippine Basketball Association, University Athletic Association of the Philippines and National Collegiate Athletic Association, will sit down in a crucial convention set this Friday at the Marco Polo Ortigas in Pasig City.
“Basketball summit on 5 January,” Panlilio said when asked about the federation’s first order of business following a successful year that saw it hosting the FIBA Basketball World Cup with gold medals in the Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Games.
There’s a need for basketball stakeholders to get aligned.
The federation had a difficult time running the national team program as the international calendar always collides with that of the country’s premier professional league, the PBA.
Last year, the PBA had to take a long break with only two conferences to give way for the staging of the World Cup and the participation of Gilas Pilipinas in the Asian Games.
After all, the national team was composed of PBA stars with TNT head coach Chot Reyes guiding it in the SEA Games and the World Cup and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel mentor Tim Cone in the Asian Games.
It’s going to be very challenging this year as Gilas will shoot for a slot in the Paris Olympics.
The Olympic Qualifying Tournament is set from 2 to 7 July in Riga, Latvia and the pro league again will have to take a break to give Gilas Pilipinas ample time to prepare.
Aside from the PBA, other leagues like the UAAP and the NCAA also have to be abreast with the International Basketball Federation calendar as some of their players are also donning the Gilas colors.
In a previous statement, Panlilio said they are looking at having a long-term alignment with various stakeholders.
“It will be a gathering of all basketball stakeholders in the country — whether collegiate or professional — as we want to share and discuss to them our aim of aligning with the full calendar of international competitions of our
world-governing body and map our plan up to the year 2027,” Panlilio said.
Newly-appointed SBP executive director Erika Dy echoed Panlilio’s statement, saying that putting all leagues on the same page will pave the way for the smooth running of their program for this year.
“We’ll be having an alignment of calendars for our Gilas men’s team,” said the 41-year-old Dy, who will be running the day to day operations of the federation after being tapped to replace former PBA commissioner Reunald “Sonny” Barrios.
