U.S.-bound Alas still available for SEA Games duty

Kieffer Alas will definitely answer the call if ever Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) taps him to be part of the national team that will compete in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.

The 18-year-old playmaker from De La Salle Zobel said he will play for flag and country in a heartbeat despite being committed to Layton Christian Academy, a premier private school in Utah that will serve as his pathway to play in the Division I of the US National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Alas, in fact, is set to fly to the United States early Friday to formally start his overseas journey. He will be with his mother, Liza, while his father, Louie, will follow shortly after his commitment as assistant coach of Ateneo de Manila University.

“No matter what, Gilas is my priority. I’m going to make sure that I’ll always be available,” Alas said in the latest episode of “Off the Court,” the weekly online sports show of DAILY TRIBUNE on Thursday.

“If ever they want me to come out there, I’ll make sure that I can come.”

Playing for the national squad has been a no-brainer for Alas, whose older brother, Kevin, was part of the team that won the gold medals in the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar and the 2023 Asian Games in China.

In fact, he was part of the Gilas Youth side that finished fourth in the 2023 FIBA U16 Asian Championship in Doha, where he emerged as part of the All-Star Five after averaging 15.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists.

His services, however, will be needed in the coming SEA Games as SBP floated the idea of deploying a mixture of professional and amateur players due to the busy schedule of the Philippine Basketball Association.

The head coach will be Norman Black, who is expected to form a tall, quick and aggressive team bannered by college standouts like Mason Amos of De La Salle University and Jared Bahay of Ateneo, who used to be Alas’ former rival in the high school ranks.

Despite still being in high school, Alas could be ripe to bang bodies with the pros and college boys.

No less than National Basketball Association (NBA) legend Byron Scott noticed him, saying that he already has what it takes to make it big, especially after having proper training and fiercer competition in the US.

“He has very good tempo with his movement, he understands how to use his body to shoot the ball, he’s great at the free throw line, and like I said, he has a very good basketball IQ,” said Scott, a three-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers who coached the Fil-Am Nation in the National Basketball Training Center last March.

“He’s so good with the ball, he almost has a Luka Doncic-type style where you don’t think he’s going to get by you, but he gets by you.”

Still, Alas admitted that his game remains a work in progress as he needs to polish his playmaking skills and maturity, especially when the game is on the line.

“Passing, handling, the way I see the floor, and patience. The point guard skills that I couldn’t really do here in the Philippines, I get to apply them now abroad,” Alas said.

“This season will dictate how the future will go and where I will go for college. My main goal is to make it to Division I.”