More pro players for PHL cage team — Uichico

Jong Uichico has been to two Asian Games — 1994 in Hiroshima and 2002 in Busan — as well as to the FIBA Asia Championship in 2007, as a member of the coaching staff and as head coach. 

And the multi-titled PBA mentor has seen the trend of having professional players suiting up for major Asian basketball tournaments through the years.

“There’s nothing wrong in sending professional players to international tournaments," said Uichico. “We’re not the only one doing that. In fact, most countries do. Japan, China, Korea are countries which have their own professional leagues and they keep sending professional players to international tournaments."

“So, I don’t see any reason why PBA players won’t be joining our national team. Before, when they established the program for Smart Gilas, they (SBP officials) were saying they will represent the country in future international tournaments, but they keep on going back to the old process, which is tapping PBA players."

For Uichico, head coach of the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings in the PBA, a young team like Smart Gilas will definitely need reinforcement.

“We have players who are around 23 years old going up against some of the best professional players in the region. Para silang mga bata going up against mga mama, so namamama lang sila," said Uichico. “It’s a good thing that PBA players were included."

Uichico sees the good intention of the Smart Gilas program, a program which was patterned after the blueprint created by former Ambassador Danding Cojuangco, who established a pool of amateur players during the 1980s.

Those amateur players became members of the Northern Consolidated national team and in fact won the Asian Basketball Confederation (now FIBA Asia Championship) crown in 1985 as well as the William Jones Cup title that same year. 

But Uichico sees a big difference then and now.

“Before, there was no other professional league in Asia except the PBA," said Uichico, who was a member of the 1984 Northern Consolidated squad that won the first ever FIBA Asia Club Championship in Ipoh, Malaysia.

“The open-basketball policy wasn’t implemented yet at that time, so when it came to international competitions, it was amateurs versus amateurs, so walang may bentahe. Had the open-basketball policy been implemented that time, we could have dominated as well," added Uichico. 

But like other people who love basketball, Uichico hopes that one day, our Philippine basketball team will dominate in the region anew. He believes the Smart Gilas program is on the right track.

“They’ve done the first big step, which is naturalizing a player. The second step is the reinforcement from the PBA. The third step is probably preparation and continuity," said Uichico. - Rey Joble/KY, GMANews.TV