Philippines Senior National Team Thread Vol. V

[JAMSKIE2]

The happenings made cone realize to add few more than 12. But instead of getting young they add japeth.. let the guy retire. He doesnt fit to cone's plan

Correct bro.
The sad reality is that 2 more players have just been added to the Gilas pool/team, yet Justin Baltazar hasn't still been considered. SBP preferred an aging Japeth who is already on his late 30's & has already retired from national team service over a player who is 10 yrs younger & is also a national team material.

 

[JAMSKIE2]

It seems this Gilas team/pool is loaded with bigs yet so thin at the 1 & 2 positions.

God forbid but what if one among Iskati Thompson, CJ Perez or Newsome gets injured or is unavailable?

 

[CoJ2]

It seems this Gilas team/pool is loaded with bigs yet so thin at the 1 & 2 positions.

God forbid but what if one among Iskati Thompson, CJ Perez or Newsome gets injured or is unavailable?

to think we have a surplus of guards, yet only a few of them are of FIBA standards. This problem would have been solved if SJ, RJ and Bolick are part of the pool.

 

[Metta2]

We just added Amos and Aguilar...that's an average age of 28.5 awesome.

Kidding aside, Amos getting included is welcome news. I've been advocating for developing the golden generation (17-23 yr olds) and Amos is part of that. The sooner he gets burn the better. I see him as an effective stretch-four especially when his man-strength kicks in.

As for Aguilar, it just shows how limited our choices are for international-level bigs. Amos playing in the uaap with unli-sized FSAs prepares him. Meanwhile, our pro league limits imports.

 

[Metta2]

It seems this Gilas team/pool is loaded with bigs yet so thin at the 1 & 2 positions.

God forbid but what if one among Iskati Thompson, CJ Perez or Newsome gets injured or is unavailable?

The original idea of having just 12 made all positions thin. It was just a matter of time before they made additions.

Injuries/unavailability is inevitable, having just 12 was not going to be viable.

 

[Tuck2]

We can fill those holes with eligible locals as far as size at the wings, shooting, perimeter defense, and good playmaking is concerned. Heck, even the go-to guy, since the basketball culture here loves go-to guys. That is, if we can identify and develop kids to fit those profiles.

size in the wings will still be a concern unless Amos learns to move his feet and can play thw wing.

2-3-4 are wings now.

Malonzo, Dwight, KQ, Oftana still lack shooting , size and our guards lack playmaking. Thats really gonna be an area of concern since Dwight is solid in all areas but elite in none and the others are unproven .

KQ is slow laterally, Malonzo lacks the heft to defend big wings and can be limited offensively oftana is terrible on d

 

[lurklurk2]

I think Cone has reservations on making the Gilas pool bigger as his concept is to make it as similar to a regular ballclub as possible. 12 players and 3 reserves (Aguilar, Amos, Boatwright) would be ideal for him I assume. I would be surprised if there will be more additions, even more if a team B will be created. Further changes to the roster would be akin to trades and signings that happen to a regular team and would depend on team needs.

I would also assume that Cone would run an 8-10 man rotation versus real competition the same way regular teams do. Curious who these players are going to be and how it will evolve over time.

 

[lurklurk2]

I would also like to point out that a 6'7 to 6'9 go-to guy who can score on all 3-levels while also being a defensive anchor who can defend both in the perimeter and in the paint is going to be an NBA player, will be expensive, and won't always be available on all windows and tournaments. We're really lucky with the Brownlee situation.

 

[IPC2]

I would also like to point out that a 6'7 to 6'9 go-to guy who can score on all 3-levels while also being a defensive anchor who can defend both in the perimeter and in the paint is going to be an NBA player, will be expensive, and won't always be available on all windows and tournaments. We're really lucky with the Brownlee situation.

If that kind of NP is difficult to find, we will have to keep this in mind when it comes to roster construction and NP selection. The eligibles selected will have to present as few holes as possible (and those holes have to be as small as possible) so that in selecting the NP, he will just need to plug in a few holes.

 

[lurklurk2]

I think the strategy right now is to plug those holes via schemes--that's why they want as much continuity for the roster to develop high-level execution. It's understandable if we think that the roster is lacking talent/skill here and there. The challenge is to be able to coach the players to the point that they can compensate for the gaps in talent/skill.

 

[BJ_Reloaded2]

I think the only way Justine Baltazar can caught an attention for another tour of duty at the National team is to deliver an impressive performance once he in the PBA.

as much as we want the big fellow to be included in the existing pool it is still a long shot for now.

yes I totally agree that he somehow develop some bad habits while playing in MPBL but we all know if given a chance to be handled by a competent coach like CTB and recently by CCT in that Dubai tourney he suddenly turned into that animal that we were expecting him to be especially when CTB still handles the Gilas team.

and now the rumors of Balti are planning to submit an application for a possible PBA stints...hmmm..

and speaking of CTB it seems that the April Fools day thing may somehow become a reality

some murmuring thing I've heard(choppy nga lang) "Parang maraming kumagat ah, cge daw upo tayo sa conference room, tayo tayo lang muna".

I won't be surprise.

 

[lurklurk2]

I'm sure the coaching staff is well aware of Baltazar's skillset and capabilities, and Cone has already expressed before that he had thought of him joining the pool during the World Cup last year. My educated guess is that Baltazar is just a classic case of PBA politics. I'm expecting a certain amount of posturing, elbowing and some brasuhan before his case will be resolved.

In connection to this, seems like Amos has caught SMC's eyes. I admit I've been away from this boards for a while so I am not sure if this has been discussed before. Is there any rumors/discussions to this effect?

 

[IPC2]

I'm sure the coaching staff is well aware of Baltazar's skillset and capabilities, and Cone has already expressed before that he had thought of him joining the pool during the World Cup last year. My educated guess is that Baltazar is just a classic case of PBA politics. I'm expecting a certain amount of posturing, elbowing and some brasuhan before his case will be resolved.

In connection to this, seems like Amos has caught SMC's eyes. I admit I've been away from this boards for a while so I am not sure if this has been discussed before. Is there any rumors/discussions to this effect?

For Mason, just a suggestion by Quinito.

Quinito suggests Baltazar, Heading, Abando and Tolentino as inclusions to the Cone's Gilas core

https://www.philstar.com/sports/2024/02/29/2336868/four-gilas

In addition, Cone was impressed by Mason's shooting before the February 2023 window, calling him a 6'7" Allan Caidic.

 

[CoJ2]

feels like balti is this generation's rommel adducul, regressed so much by playing in inferior leagues during his peak years

 

[lurklurk2]

For Mason, just a suggestion by Quinito.



In addition, Cone was impressed by Mason's shooting before the February 2023 window, calling him a 6'7" Allan Caidic.

Right, I think I remember these when they hit the news before. Curious if Chua is also planning to get Amos to one of the SMC teams. I still remember when he started a subtle yet very public recruitment of Standhardinger back in the day.

 

[BJ_Reloaded2]

feels like balti is this generation's rommel adducul, regressed so much by playing in inferior leagues during his peak years

Sir CoJ,

we can only conclude that Rommel Adducul scenario if he is already strutting his stuff at the PBA, good thing about Balti he has a decent pulse at the FT lines compared to the likes of Adducul, Rich Alvarez, Enrico Villanueva, Richard Del Rosario and Mac Cuan whom until their retirement doesn't know the basic mechanics to make sure it is a sureball sadly they ended their career with a horrible FT percentage. as for the active player(s), Rafi Reavis may somehow join that unfortunate club."antagal na sa PBA, bano pa rin sa FT line..naman eh".

back to Balti, as I said he may be transform into a different animal if he will be handled by a competent coach with a good system

let's see.

 

[CoJ2]

Sir CoJ,

we can only conclude that Rommel Adducul scenario if he is already strutting his stuff at the PBA, good thing about Balti he has a decent pulse at the FT lines compared to the likes of Adducul, Rich Alvarez, Enrico Villanueva, Richard Del Rosario and Mac Cuan whom until their retirement doesn't know the basic mechanics to make sure it is a sureball sadly they ended their career with a horrible FT percentage. as for the active player(s), Rafi Reavis may somehow join that unfortunate club."antagal na sa PBA, bano pa rin sa FT line..naman eh".

back to Balti, as I said he may be transform into a different animal if he will be handled by a competent coach with a good system

let's see.

I hope it's not too late, he's already 27-28 yrs old and developed a lot of bad habits in the MPBL

 

[JAMSKIE2]

Guys, do U think Bennie Boatwright is a good rebounder? I hope he is becoz we would be needing a good rebounding naturalized player to cover for Kai Sotto who isn't really known as a good rebounder for his size. AJ Edu is a good rebounder which could somewhat compensate for Kai's shortcoming in rebounding, but Edu is injury prone.

 

[Rds2]

Guys, do U think Bennie Boatwright is a good rebounder? I hope he is becoz we would be needing a good rebounding naturalized player to cover for Kai Sotto who isn't really known as a good rebounder for his size. AJ Edu is a good rebounder which could somewhat compensate for Kai's shortcoming in rebounding, but Edu is injury prone.

It is hard to gauge. PBA players are smaller. He plays alongside a good rebounder in June Mar. But I think he is more a finesse player.

 

[IPC2]

Guys, do U think Bennie Boatwright is a good rebounder? I hope he is becoz we would be needing a good rebounding naturalized player to cover for Kai Sotto who isn't really known as a good rebounder for his size. AJ Edu is a good rebounder which could somewhat compensate for Kai's shortcoming in rebounding, but Edu is injury prone.

It is hard to gauge. PBA players are smaller. He plays alongside a good rebounder in June Mar. But I think he is more a finesse player.

He's a good defensive rebounder. Not that good at offensive rebounding, though. Looked at his rebounding percentages in Mexico, PBA, and CBA (https://basketball.realgm.com/player/Bennie-Boatwright/Summary/76229).​