If Stanley Pringle can play as naturalized player, Gilas Pilipinas coach Yeng Guiao will have an easier time tweaking his rotation.
Efforts are currently being done to put Pringle’s documents in order as he had secured his Philippine passport after the age of 16.
“Hindi lang naman si Greg (Slaughter) ang gusto nating maging local, si Pringle din,” said Guiao before practices resumed last night at the Meralco gym.
In the next two games of Gilas Pilipinas, Guiao wants to alternate the exposure of Christian Standhardinger and Pringle in the fourth window of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers next week.
So far, Slaughter is expected to officially join the team as soon as his papers are in order.
The squad has members who competed in the 2018 Asian Games, namely Standhardinger, Paul Lee, Pringle, Gabe Norwood, Poy Erram, Beau Belga, Raymond Almazan, and Asi Taulava.
Also coming aboard are Scottie Thompson, Marcio Lassiter, Alex Cabagnot, Ian Sangalang, Japeth Aguilar, Matthew Wright and Allein Maliksi.
Guiao is still finalizing the 12-man roster that will see action in the game against Iran.
Meanwhile, 16 athletes who have won medals in the recent 18th Asian Games in Indonesia were backed by the MVP Sports Foundation, a privately funded sports foundation of the Manuel V. Pangilinan Group of Companies.
Al Panlilio, in his capacity as head of the MVPSF, said this after the Philippines’ ranking improved to 19th place, from the previous 22nd spot, in the 45-nation games.
“We’ve been quietly supporting our athletes since 2011. Given their performance in the 2018 Asiad, it seems that the sports programs that we are supporting are on the right track in creating champions and world-class athletes,” said Panlilio.
During the Philippines’ Asiad campaign, Hidilyn Diaz was the first to get a gold in weightlifting. Then, the women’s golf trio of Yuka Saso, Bianca Pagdanganan and Lois Kaye Go added two more.
The country’s fourth gold came from Margielyn Didal in skateboarding. All four are supported by the MVPSF, together with boxers Rogen Ladon (silver), Carlo Paalam (bronze) and Eumir Marcial (bronze), BMX cyclist Daniel Caluag (bronze), the taekwondo poomsae men’s team (Dustin Mella, Jeordan Dominquez and Rodolfo Reyes Jr.), the taekwondo poomsae women’s team (Janna Oliva, Faye Crisostomo and Rinna Babanto) and taekwondo Kyorugi bet Pauline Louise Lopez.
Overall, MVPSF-supported athletes delivered more than half of the medals, which is 16 of 21 of the that the country won in the last Asiad.
Since its creation in 2011, MVPSF has been providing financial support amounting to over P1 billion on sports development programs of different National Sports Associations.
