MANILA, Philippines – Gilas-Pilipinas head coach Tab Baldwin said that there are currently no plans of inserting UCLA-bound Kobe Paras and Filipino-American NBA D-League player Ray Parks in the national team pool.
“Yeah, there [are] no plans of bringing either one of those two into the pool at this point,” Baldwin said on Saturday, January 30, “but the pool is fluid. So at any point in time, we could make adjustments to it.”
Baldwin, 57, said that he's likely to rule out any chance of Paras making the pool as of now due to his commitment to UCLA, where he’s going to play for the Bruins in NCAA (US) Division I basketball as part of the class of 2016.
“I think you can rule Kobe out, because being at UCLA, they just don’t have time,” said Baldwin, who in his first FIBA tournament helped lead Gilas to a silver-medal finish in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship.
(READ: Kobe Paras on the PH: I just wanna make everyone here proud)
“The big universities are more difficult to deal with than the NBA teams, so I doubt Kobe will be available.”
Not ready
The 18-year-old Paras, who’s 6-foot-5, has proven to be quite the athletic talent after performances in exhibition games and other FIBA competitions abroad, even winning a few slam dunk contests.
However, Baldwin said that, “Frankly I’m not sure Kobe is ready for Gilas yet.”
“But,” added the head coach, “the day is coming when he will be for sure.”
The 28-year coaching veteran also said that dealing with the NBA D-League, where Parks is playing for the Texas Legends, is easier than an NCAA school, but there aren’t any plans of Parks joining Gilas training sessions soon.
“D-League is a little bit easier to deal with, but right now there’s no plans, as I said, to bring Ray into the pool,” said Baldwin.
Per the NBA D-League’s website, Parks is currently averaging 2.9 points and 1.9 rebounds in 15 games played.
The 22-year-old, who’s a former two-time UAAP MVP with National University, is currently hoping to find a way to make it to the NBA.
“But we’ll stay in touch. I stay in touch with Ray. We haven’t spoken about that opportunity yet, but I know that he loves representing Philippines, and, again there’s no doubt in my mind he’ll get that opportunity very soon.” – Rappler.com