Sizing up SEAG pool

All in all, this is surely one of the most — if not the most — talented SEA Games pools ever assembled.

I’m excited to see Gilas Pilipinas plunge into action in the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA)Games.

I want to see coach Tim Cone back at the helm and know if this iteration of the national squad can be as dominant as people expect in quest of the country’s 18th gold medal in men’s basketball event.

One glance at Cone’s chosen pool of Philippine Basketball Association talents reveals something clearly simple: It’s about winning now.

This pool has not been assembled with a long-term view in mind.

It’s principally a collection of seasoned PBA veterans, most of whom are either familiar with Cone’s system or familiar with the demands of international basketball.

Cone isn’t messing around. He wants to win the SEA Games gold medal.

It’s not about preparing young talents for FIBA competitions. It’s about preparing for the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup, the 2022 Asian Games and the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

This is about winning now and, without a doubt, an effort to redeem the national team’s image after its dismal and winless World Cup campaign in China.

It’s not much of a surprise that Cone included six Ginebra players in the pool in LA Tenorio, Scottie Thompson, Stanley Pringle, Greg Slaughter, Japeth Aguilar and Art dela Cruz. I expect all of these six cagers to make it to the final roster and form Cone’s rotation.

I hope Greg can be a dominant force in the SEA Games, especially after he played well below expectations in the Asian Qualifiers last year.

I expect both Thompson and Pringle to be among Cone’s go-to backcourt while Tenorio provides a lot of stability on the floor due to his massive international experience.

Aguilar should also be a rim-protector and rebounding monster at the regional level while dela Cruz brings a lot of energy and length to the squad.

The TNT trio of Jayson Castro, RR Pogoy and Troy Rosario will most likely make it to the Final 12 as well due to their collective experience playing at the Asian and world levels.

Pogoy’s shooting and Rosario’s versatility will be crucial while Castro will be among Cone’s aces when push comes to shove and the team needs buckets down the stretch.

The foursome from San Miguel Beer in June Mar Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter, Christian Standhardinger and Chris Ross as well as Vic Manuel of Alaska and Matthew Wright of Phoenix Pulse round out the pool, but it will be interesting who among them would make it.

Fajardo should be a shoo-in provided that he’s healthy while Standhardinger’s inclusion is highly dependent on whether Cone feels he needs more than four bigs in his roster.

The Filipino-German can play as a small-ball center or at his natural power forward position paired with either Slaughter or Fajardo, though having him together with Aguilar or Rosario may prove to be redundant.

Lassiter and Wright missed the World Cup due to injuries, but they seem healthy now, so those two “3-and-D” guys are very enticing prospects for the SEA Games, though putting both may mean easing either or both Pogoy and Thompson out.

I’m also not sure where Manuel comes in, especially with other bigs having more varied skill-sets in the international game.

As for Ross, I would love to see him finally don the Pilipinas kit. Although Gilas Pilipinas already has a crowded backcourt, it will still be interesting to see how Cone would use the Filipino-American floor general.

All in all, this is surely one of the most — if not the most — talented SEA Games pools ever assembled.

They may encounter some adjustment issues or rough sailing against the likes of Thailand and Indonesia, who are both reportedly reinforced by naturalized players, but I still don’t see the Filipinos getting dethroned, especially on their home soil.

Heck, if that happens, we will definitely reach a new low in Philippine basketball.