Gilas Pilipinas head coach Norman Black hopes that 33rd Southeast Asian Games host Thailand will maintain the current passport-only eligibility rule for basketball.

Black announced the addition of athletic big men Mike Phillips of De La Salle University and Kymani Ladi of Ateneo de Manila University, along with Thirdy Ravena, to the Gilas pool during his appearance in Noli Eala’s Power & Play program on Saturday morning.

Gilas now has 11 names in its roster, following the earlier confirmation of naturalized players Justin Brownlee and Ange Kouame, as well as Ray Parks, Dave Ildefonso, Matthew Wright, Remy Martin, Veejay Pre and Jason Brickman.  

However, a late-minute shift by the Thailand SEA Games Organizing Committee in eligibility guidelines to FIBA rules will pose a big problem, as Black will be left with just six eligible players and will have to scramble to find new names to fill the 12-man roster.

“Well, this is my problem. We were told this back in June that it would be passport-only, and we formed our pool based on that,” said Black, who was appointed to handle a younger Gilas squad for the biennial meet scheduled from 9 to 20 December.

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas has been operating in the formation of the squad based on the “passport-only” rule.

“We did not form our pool based on FIBA rules. So, if they were to change that this late in the day, it’s going to be a problem for us because we pretty much have a lineup already. I mean, a lot of the guys are overseas and they’re not here in the Philippines, but we have a lineup that we can probably get together three weeks before the tournament and, you know, start practice leading into the SEA Games,” Black said.

“But at the same time, if they change the rule this late, that’s going to be a challenge. I’m not even sure exactly where players are going to come from,” he added.

If Thailand decides to implement FIBA eligibility rules, Gilas will have to choose between Brownlee and Kouame as its naturalized player. Only Parks, Wright, Ildefonso, Ravena and Pre will be left as local players.

Scavenging for new players to fill the roster would be a huge challenge, as most players from the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) won’t be available due to the ongoing Season 50.

“I’m just hoping they don’t change this late in the day. And I say that because we made our pool based on the first rules. So, now we have a lot of players, mostly in the PBA, who are not being, you know, really given permission to play with the national team in the SEA Games,” Black said.