Speculating the 2016 Gilas Final 14

Iran was supposed to be a sharper, more seasoned squad heading in, especially after sweeping the 2016 West Asia Basketball Association qualifiers for the 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge, but they sorely missed the services of veteran players Hamed Haddadi, Samad Nikkhah Bahrami, Mahdi Kamrani, and Hamed Afagh, among others, in their first tune-up against Gilas.

Both teams play again tonight at the Araneta Coliseum, but this time around it’ll be in full view of rabid Philippine basketball fans.

After this, Gilas coach Tab Baldwin is to name his Gilas Final 14, whom he will take to Europe for the final leg of their preparations before returning to Manila for the OQT.

Who are going to make it? Only coach Tab knows, and he will probably extend his think time up until the last possible moment, especially given how talented and hard working the Gilas players have been so far.

Still, it never hurts to speculate who among the remaining players have favorable chances to make the cut.

In that spirit of projection and speculation, here are my picks for the Gilas Final 14.

Frontline: Andray Blatche, June Mar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, Ranidel de Ocampo, Troy Rosario.

– Most of the guys on this list are no-brainers, but one notable and extremely difficult omission is Marc Pingris. Ping’s big heart and limitless effort are undeniable, but I feel the team needs to go a different direction. By that, I mean we need bigs who are versatile enough to take their games to the perimeter. Dray, naturally, is the perfect example, while “stretch 4s” like RDO and Troy represent the nouveau-type of forward favored by a fast-paced team, which I think will be the case for Gilas. Japeth has been impressive in practices, and it seems coach Tab has big plans for the Ginebra player to log a lot of minutes at the middle as Dray slides to the PF position. Fajardo is an easy pick for a lot of people, but I was actually discerning between him and Ping for the last slot. Ping is a little quicker, but JMF adds much-needed size and youth (relatively speaking). Also, I think it’d be a shame for the back-to-back MVP to be left out at this stage in the process. I’m honestly not sure how effective Fajardo will be against centers who are at least as big as him and maybe more skilled, but I’m hopeful he’ll adjust well and contribute in his own way (just don’t expect double-double lines from the SMB giant). I also chose to leave out Mo Tautuaa mainly because I don’t think it’ll do much good to have two naturalized players in the Final 14.

Wings: Calvin Abueva, Gabe Norwood, Ray Parks, Jeff Chan, Marcio Lassiter.

– Calvin, Gabe, and BRP were easy picks, but I vacillated on Chan and Lassiter, both of whom have missed a HUGE chunk of training time. I almost scratched one of them in favor of Ryan Reyes, who has really been putting in the sweat equity, but, in the end, I felt that both Chan and Marcio were more consistent, more seasoned shooters whose international experience were integral intangibles. I only hope both those guys can get healthy (and fast!). As for the rest, it’ll be extra difficult for coach Tab to pick only two of the three from Calvin, Gabe, and BRP. At the end of the day, I’m not sure the team can afford to have all three swingmen in the final cut, but seeing how they fare in Europe should give coach Tab a more defined look at who has the best chance to make an impact in the OQT. Gabe and BRP are certainly more versatile than Calvin, who can really only play one position in the international game, but The Beast’s motor and swag are unmatched in the team, and we’ll need those if, indeed, Ping is left behind.

Point Guards: Jayson Castro, LA Tenorio, Terrence Romeo, Kiefer Ravena.

– Castro is an auto-pick. Ditto with Romeo. I was a bit unsure of LA and Kief, but the team will need LA’s mentoring, and the guy who’ll probably benefit most from that is Kief. Ravena is a wildcard for me, and I mean that in a good way. He can score with the best on this team, but he just isn’t big enough to be a wingman internationally. He needs to be more versatile than what he’s been, and that means he needs to continue learning how it is to be an effective floor general. LA and Jayson can teach that. Castro and Romeo, of course, epitomize Philippine basketball. They aren’t big by any measure, but their quickness, range, and explosiveness characterize our style of play very well. I don’t think we can have a Philippine team without those two. Not in this day and age, at least.

How about you? Who do you think makes it to the Gilas Final 14?

source: foxsportsasia.com – By Enzo Flojo