PBA cagers to boost Chot Reyes' 30-man Gilas Pilipinas pool

Gilas Pilipinas will be facing a busy schedule in the next two years, which prompted national team head coach Chot Reyes to sit down with the PBA to chart their plans moving forward.

Included in Gilas' hectic calendar are the Vietnam SEA Games in May, World Cup Qualifiers in June, FIBA Asia Cup in July, Asian Games in September, and another World Cup Qualifiers in November and in February 2023. All these events will lead up to the country's hosting of the FIBA World Cup in August 2023.

With this packed schedule, Reyes is set to form a 30-man pool that will be composed of a mix of cadets and professional ballers from the PBA.

Reyes, along with Gilas Pilipinas team manager Butch Antonio, had already met with league commissioner Willie Marcial on Tuesday, where the veteran mentor informed the PBA of his plans.

Both Reyes and Marcial did not delve into the details of the meeting as Marcial will still present it to the Board of Governor in their next board meeting.

Marcial, though, said in a previous interview that the PBA has been and will always be supportive of the national team as long as their calendars are synchronized.

But it is likely that the PBA will loan its players come the SEA Games as it will be staged during the league's off-season. The biennial meet will take place in Hanoi from May 12 to 23 while the season-ending conference will already be done by the end of April.

The likelihood of PBA players composing the SEA Games team is also higher given the fact that collegiate players won't be available in the duration of the Vietnam Games.

“I don’t think we will have any of the collegiate players because I think the UAAP will end on May 12 at the earliest and May 19 at the latest," said Reyes after they absorbed a 88-63 loss to New Zealand last Sunday.

“Another thing to take into consideration [is] who are the players who are going to be available? Unfortunately, I can’t answer that question because we have to sit down and actually craft the plans." — LA, GMA News