Where to Smart Gilas?

For all of Smart Gilas' woes about its yet to be naturalized import, this team, in my opinion, will make a trade for a PBA player (via Talk 'N Text) soon. This team is better on the break than in a half court set but to be able to do that, they need to collar those rebounds. That's something that hasn't been done on a consistent basis since CJ Giles was on board. It's no secret who else is on Rajko Toroman's list of PBA players but he will have to part with some players. And should that happen, one of them is on the injury list while the other is on the rotation. The time is coming because team officials will have to pull the trigger fast. But the changes should happen soon.

And if the team makes way for a few more Fil-Ams, it has to be now. But that will come at the expense of some of the current mainstays. A team official isn't exactly down with that but will only acquiesce if he is an impact player.

Some quarters are alarmed at the shellacking the team got in Serbia. Honestly, that was expected. The Serbs are the fifth-ranked country in the world. The highest West Asian team is Iran at #21. Okay that might sound apples and oranges since Gilas faced a variety of Serb teams and not the nationals. Ditto with Mahram Iran that incidentally boasts of a number of nationals like Samad, Afagh, Sohrabnejab, and Kamrani to name a few. I'd rather that we make all the mistakes now and peak too early before the Champions Cup and Asian Games.

The three-year plan is a difficult one. The goal isn't now but some time away. Maintaining focus for that is extremely difficult. As I previously wrote, when an import signs with a PBA club it's for three months or so. For Gilas, it's for the long haul. Most players will have trouble with that for many things: where they compete because you can't be practicing for weeks on end; the expenses because it's a vastly different undertaking today as opposed to when Northern Consolidated Cement was tasked to uphold the national cause; and all the personalities around. It isn't just about basketball anymore. The kids are bright and they know what goes on around them. They know the gossip and background. And they have their own opinions about it. Of course, they'd rather play basketball than worry about those things that are better left as in- jokes than become real time distractions. Yet it does seems comical at times while on occasion, it can leave you shaking your head.

So where is Part 5? The one that deals with their import problems. It's done. Pretty much the whole series is. Am just waiting for something. having said that, the best story of Gilas should come out when all this is said and done.