PBA to help set up long-term program for RP basketball
08/27/2008 | 04:16 PM
Email this | Email the Editor | Print | Digg this | Add to del.icio.us MANILA, Philippines – At least for the next two years, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is making a commitment to help in the formation of the men’s national team.
After that, the long-range plan of the Basketball Association of the Philippines-Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas should start to take over.
PBA board members made the united stand at the end of its whirlwind, two-day planning session held at the posh Venetian Hotel in Macau Wednesday.
New league chairman Joaqui Trillo of Alaska stressed the timetable devoted by the PBA to form and train the national team for next year’s FIBA-Asia qualifying meet for the World Basketball Championship in 2010 may be enough for the country’s sole governing cage body to implement its own program beginning in 2011.
“The league is willing to help the team in the next two years, but we really do need a long-range program," said the Alaska team manager, who succeeded Red Bull’s Tony Chua as league chairman.
“It’s been a long time now. I think it’s about time that we set this one up. Let’s put things in place now, so that four or five years, we’ll already have a national team that is competitive and at least, at par with the rest of Asia."
Trillo admitted the practice of putting together a team reinforced by players from the different PBA ballclubs at the last minute, not only hinders the league itself, but also the country’s basketball program.
Hopefully, the team to be bolstered by an all-pro roster for the 2009 FIBA-Asia meet would be the last time the SBP is adopting the measure. The qualifier is set in September next year in China.
“At least until 2010, that’s as far as our talk with Noli (Eala)," said league commissioner Sonny Barrios, referring to his earlier agreement with SBP executive director Noli Eala on the PBA’s policy of lending its players for national cause.
A similar PBA-reinforced national squad finished ninth place in last year’s FIBA-Asia Men’s Championship in Tokushima, Japan, dashing its hopes of a return stint to the Olympics, held this year in Beijing, China, after more than 36-years of absence.
Aside from the national team, the Board also elected its new set of officers to comprise the PBA executive board. Elected as Trillo’s vice-chairman is Air21’s Lito Alvarez while Rene Pardo of Purefoods was chosen as treasurer.
“After this, the board decided to make the line of succession an automatic thing, so that everybody gets their chance especially the newcomers," added Trillo.
By 2009-2010, Alvarez will assume the PBA chairmanship with Pardo as his vice-chair and Welcoat representative Memerto Mondragon as treasurer.
At the same time, as the incoming chairman, Trillo said he’ll be working just behind the scene and let Barrios do his thing as PBA commissioner.
“I would definitely not interfere. It should be his (Barrios) own show. You don’t see NBA team owners being in the limelight. It’s all (David) Stern who runs the show," said the Alaska official.
Chua said he’s happy to be stepping down from his post knowing that the board's leadership is in good hands.
“Whatever we achieved during this past season had been through the effort of everybody," said Chua. – GMANews.TV
Originally Posted by skadiboy
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