If he had it his way, former Gilas Pilipinas coach Yeng Guiao would shorten PBA seasons in the years when the Asian Games and Fiba World Cup tournaments are scheduled to allow the national team ample time to prepare for these major competitions.

Speaking at the Hoops Coaches International webinar streamed on YouTube on Sunday night, Guiao, who coached the Gilas Pilipinas team in the World Cup last year, believes young big men Kai Sotto and AJ Edu are also shoo-ins to the 2023 squad when the country cohosts the Fiba tournament with Indonesia and Japan.

“We’ve always been ill-prepared or we didn’t have the luxury of time together,” lamented Guiao, whose team finished winless in China last year. “I think the PBA would have to make that sacrifice. The best solution there since the PBA has the best players is to hold just two conferences when preparing for an Asian Games or a World Cup.”

The NLEX mentor said the national team coach did not need to be full-time for as long as he is able to get all the players together months ahead of competitions.

“It’s that simple,” said Guiao, whose first stint with the national team came in 2009. “Even if you have a full-time coach and the players are not full-time, it’s the same thing. It’s really about cooperation. Everyone has to commit to the objectives of the national team.”Guiao said there were plenty of lessons to be taken from last year’s Fiba World Cup in China where the country failed to win a single game.

“If you’re playing in the World Cup, the lesson we learned is we have to train early and play against teams that are at the level of the other teams in the tournament. This should happen months before the tournament,” Guiao said. “I know it’s time-consuming and it takes a lot of expense and commitment and you have to have the best players available. On our part, we did have our problems with injuries and scheduling. We only had two weeks of training together.”

Guiao backed former Gilas coach Chot Reyes’ statement that the national team should have a Filipino mentor. But Guiao stressed that local coaches should also do their job, upgrading their skills to be at par with the best in the world.

TNT KaTropa active consultant Mark Dickel from New Zealand handled the last national team that saw action in the Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers in February.

“I think we can stand up with the best coaches in the world, but we still need to upgrade our skills. We still need to immerse ourselves before we play the best European teams,” Guiao said.“I think the best basketball at the Fiba World [Cup] level is in Europe. If you look at the Euro League, it is the same style as Fiba. The Americans even have a hard time adjusting to that type of play.”While he lauded the efforts of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas to come up with a long-term plan following the inclusion of top draftees loaned to the Gilas pool, Guiao believes only a few of them could end up representing the country in the World Cup three years from now. Isaac Go, Matt and Mike Nieto, Rey Suerte and Allyn Bulanadi were all selected from the Gilas draft last year.

“The rookies that we have today will be lucky if one or two of them would make the World Cup team,” Guiao said. “You already have Kai Sotto and AJ Edu, but the rest nine or 10 of the guys are already in the PBA. The rookies this year or maybe next year may just be too young or too raw to be playing in the 2023 World Cup. They should be part of the long-term plan and they still have plenty of work to do.” INQ

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