by Dave Albarado
Fiba Asia Cup postponement is a good thing for Gilas
The Fiba Asia tournament is slated to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia this August. However, due to rising Coronavirus disease (Covid) cases in the said country, the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) had no choice but to move the tournament to July 2022. This can affect the qualifying windows for the Basketball World Cup in 2023, which the Philippines hosts together with Japan and Indonesia. The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) has no choice but to revisit its plans for next year’s tournament.
On Friday, July 23, 2021, SBP special assistant Ryan Gregorio said the basketball federation will be revisiting their plans together with the Gilas coaching staff.
Indonesia has been having problems with a surge of Covid cases due to the Delta Variant throughout its archipelago, where authorities have imposed travel restrictions for inbound travelers.
As of the moment, Gilas is set to play in the King’s Cup competition in Amman, Jordan, which is supposed to be the national team’s tune-up tournament for Fiba Asia Cup.
There in Jordan, Gilas will figure in a five-nation, six-team tourney starting next week and will take on the national teams of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Tunisia.
It is in the tournament in Jordan where Gilas will be devoting its focus and then head back home to figure out the next moves following the postponement of the Fiba Asia Cup in Indonesia.
Well, at least, we would have no problems competing in the Fiba Asia Cup because Kai Sotto begged off from joining Gilas for the Indonesia tournament.
The fans were disappointed after Kai begged off from joining the tournament in Jakarta. It seems that Kai’s move is brilliant to say the least because he gets to join the Adelaide team in the National Basketball League and still fulfill his obligations with the national team as the Fiba Asia tournament is slated next year. Kai has plenty of time to bulk up and become stronger for next year’s tournament.