According to national team head coach Yeng Guiao, time constraint was one of the main considerations in forming the national men's basketball team lineup that will compete in the upcoming Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Having coached most of them back in Rain or Shine, Guiao is quite familiar with the members of the Asiad-bound team, whose participation was officially announced by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) and the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Sunday night.
Elasto Painters Maverick Ahanmisi, Chris Tiu, Gabe Norwood, James Yap, Beau Belga, and Raymund Almazan headline the group, complemented by Magnolia's Paul Lee, San Miguel's Christian Standhardinger, Blackwater's Poy Erram, GlobalPort's Stanley Pringle, TNT's Don Trollano, and Gilas cadets Kobe Paras and Ricci Rivero.
"One reason that I want guys who are familiar with me is because of the lack of time," he explained. "They know my system, they know my personality, and I know them in return, so the chemistry, flow, and cohesion will be faster."
"I don't see any problem also with the rest of the guys coming from the outside [like] Christian Standhardinger, Pringle, Poy Erram," Guiao added. "Of course there are young guys we put in there, just to expose them and give them some experience for future competitions."
The newly-named national players will only have eight days of practice before flying to Indonesia on August 14 but Guiao believes that they can still whip up a competitive team.
"The only constraint is the preparation time but we will work overtime. We're good in cramming anyway," he said. "We know that these are not the primary talents because some players are not available especially those that are still in the finals and those coming from the regular national team. Be that as it may, I think this team is still very competitive."
In the next week, Guiao will have to trim down the 14-player roster to just 12 while factoring in the team's need for size and shooting.
"When you go international, you have to have the shooters and you have to have the quality big men," he said. "I guess that will be the basis in the next eight days of practice. I want to have the reliable shooters and scorers and then I want to have the big men who can defend the bigs of the other side."
Despite the short preparation time, Guiao said they will try their best to meet the Philippine Olympic Committee's (POC) expectations of surpassing the national basketball team's 7th place finish in the last Asian Games.
"There's a certain factor of luck getting into the equation, depending on the groupings and our opponents," he admits. "But we will pose no excuses, we will just play hard for the country. We will try to give our best and make our countrymen proud of us."