The Philippine men’s national basketball team, Gilas Pilipinas, has dropped Bobby Ray Parks, Jr. from their pool for the upcoming 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers due to ongoing contract negotiations with PBA team TNT KaTropa, which has kept the Filipino-American point guard away from practice.
Gabby Cui, who serves as team manager for both Gilas Pilipinas and TNT, expressed concern over the player’s ability to acquire national team’s “system.”
“Since malapit na ‘yung baka there’s no more time for him to learn the system (Since the first game is coming up soon, there is no more time for him to learn the system),” he explained. “Maybe in the next window—he can join us since marami pang windows (Maybe in the next window—he can join us since there are still many more windows).”
The first qualifying round, where Gilas Pilipinas faces Thailand, begins on Thursday, February 20, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
“With all our players, we want to make sure we give them their fair market value,” Cui added./ASC, WDJ