BANGKOK. – Although he is aware of how strong the other teams are, Philippine men’s basketball head coach Norman Black is optimistic he can weave the same magic he dished out 14 years ago when he first clinched the Southeast Asian games crown.
Black is back at the reins, this time in the 33rd Thailand Southeast Asian Games, with a team composed of former Japan B.League players Thirdy Ravena, and Matthew Wright, Bobby Ray Parks Jr., Jamie Malonzo, Von Pessumal, Robert Bolick, Justin Chua, Dalph Panopio, Abu Tratter, Saint Benilde’s Allen Bryant Liwag, Far Eastern University’s Veejay Pre, and Adamson University’s Cedrick Manzano.
Naturalized Gilas Pilipinas players Justin Brownlee, De La Salle University big man Michael Philips, TNT Tropang 5G’s Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser and JP Erram are out due to controversial moves by host Thailand but Black believes that they still have what it takes to defend the title won by the country two years ago in the Cambodia games.
“I think the process of forming a team has been difficult because of the circumstances, but we still have talented players on the team. They are still quality players, so I am expecting that we will go there and we will play our best, and that will give us a chance of winning the championship,” he said.
“But like I said, let us just take it one game at a time. Let us start off with Malaysia.”
The Philippines will start its title-retention bid against Malaysia on Sunday at 11:30am in Pool A to be followed by the game against Vietnam on Monday at same time at the Nimibutr Stadium.
In the 2011 games in Jakarta, Indonesia, Black steered a team of collegiate stars led by Kiefer Ravena, Bobby Ray Parks Jr., Chris Tiu, Cliff Hodge, and 7-footer Greg Slaughter to the title.
“The last time I coached there, we did not have any pros and naturalized players,” Black said. “They were all college guys. We won the championship with collegiate players.”
He knows the roster of host nation Thailand that has Thai-Americans 6-foot-8 Frederick Lish, and 6-foot-4 Moses Morgan, and 6-foot-3 Nikola Franco, while Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia have also improved their respective lineups.
“Actually, I have seen the lineup of Vietnam. The lineup of Malaysia has not been released yet. I have not seen a copy of it. I have seen the lineup of Thailand because that was released already. I have seen some of them play on the internet, obviously, just like they are doing with us,” Black added.
Black and the Philippine team will arrive on Thursday in Bangkok from Manila.
Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino has expressed his faith on the country’s men’s 5-on-5 basketball team’s ability to defend the title.
“Gilas can win the title again — and I believe that,” Tolentino told reporters on Monday after the SEA Games Council meeting here at the Grand Four Wings Hotel. “It is still painful not to see some of our players, but Gilas Pilipinas can still do it. They will still be the champion.”
The Philippines is in Pool A with Malaysia, and Vietnam, while Pool B teams are Indonesia, Singapore, Myanmar, and host Thailand.
