Chris Tiu resisted the PBA lure by sticking with Smart-Gilas.
Dondon Hontiveros on the other hand, is on his
way out.
The Cebuano Hotshot, an important asset to
the Team Pilipinas’ cause, wants out
of the squad. Hopefully the reports aren’t final and Hontiveros gets a chance
to help the country to go to the London
Olympics. At this stage of preparations, the LAST thing that SHOULD happen
is dissention in the ranks. Distractions appear left and right with Smart-Gilas
choosing who they should and shouldn’t retain, Gilas hopefuls thinking on
whether or not they’ll withdraw their applications, Gilas hopefuls thinking
whether or not joining the draft is a smart move...
And
then this.
Through
second-hand reports it looks like that the 2011
Jones Cup stint will be the last international action Hontiveros will do as
a member of Smart-Gilas. Reports stated that Smart-Gilas coach Rajko Toroman went berserk on
Hontiveros which fuelled the many-time Mythical member to ditch the national
team. Online sources also said that Toroman likes to pick on “weaklings”.
Toroman likes his players strong-willed and that will never back down.
Dondon
Hontiveros perhaps tranced to his college days where he was a no-namer that was
unsure if he’ll become a star or not.
I
think this is the reason why Toroman needs to have players with very little
egos. If you look at it, maybe this is why Rabeh
Al-Hussaini didn’t shine in this squad and Japeth Aguilar is not invited to return for a crack at the 2014
FIBA-Asia Championships.
Broadsheet
reports say though that fatigue and preparations for the upcoming PBA season
was his biggest qualms that forced him to say goodbye to the program.
But
let’s face it – that drama is unlikely true.
In
their final test, which is a Doha pocket tourney, Gilas saved Tiu and
prospective top choice JV Casio for Talk N Text’s Ryan Reyes and Larry Fonacier.
If
it was me, I’ll see Hontiveros’ resignation as a welcome development. Now it’s certain that when Jimmy Alapag, Kelly Williams, and Ranidel de Ocampo will join the squad,
it’s Dylan Ababou and Jason Ballesteros going to the reserved
list. Hontiveros however has an extremely high basketball IQ and his leadership qualities may be extremely valuable for the National team.
But if
they’re searching for a go-to-shooting guard, I’m going to say that it’s a
tossup between James Yap and Solomon Mercado.
As of
this moment, Toroman only has Marcus
Douthit and JV Casio as his
regular scorers. If they can still get Honti, fine. But if they couldn’t, they
need to develop a consistent third scorer to bolster their chances.
Game
over.
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