Norman Black, who is tasked to pilot Gilas Pilipinas’ SEA Games campaign this December, is suddenly facing a more complicated, if not perilous, path to gold. This after the Thai SEA Games Organizing Committee banned naturalized players from playing in 5×5 basketball. Veteran sportscaster Quinito Henson first broke the news on Saturday morning. But, according to Henson, Kouame will be eligible in 3×3 action as the ban only covers the 5×5.
With the ban in effect, that means Justin Brownlee will not be in the lineup for Black’s Gilas. Brownlee, of course, would have been relied upon to be the national team’s safety blanket—the go-to guy and steadying force of a hastily assembled squad composed of players who’ll be playing together for the first time (or at least most of them).
The ban also means Ange Kouame won’t be seeing action for Black. Kouame, another naturalized player lined up to play in the SEA Games, is this team’s only legitimate big man, and his expected absence will make Gilas much shorter and thinner up front.
Who Are in Norman Black’s SEA Games-Bound Gilas?
Aside from Brownlee and Kouame, Norman Black had previously named Ray Parks, Matthew Wright, Thirdy Ravena, Remy Martin, Jason Brickman, Dave Ildefonso, Kymani Ladi, Mike Phillips, Veejay Pre, and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser to his SEA Games-bound squad.
Parks is doing great guns in the Japan B.League, while Ravena and Wright were former B.League imports themselves. Ildefonso and Brickman are currently playing for the Abra Weavers in the MPBL and are PBA-bound anytime soon. Ladi, Phillips, and Pre are collegiate standouts, while Ganuelas-Rosser is one of the PBA’s best big men at the moment.
Brownlee and Kouame would have rounded out the roster nicely, with Brownlee as the main man and Kouame as the reliable anchor in the paint. Now, Norman Black is on the clock to find suitable replacements for the two naturalized stalwarts.
