PBA board to discuss SBP's request to borrow 3 pro players

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Board is set to tackle in its annual planning session the request made by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) to borrow three marquee players to reinforce the national team to the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. Outgoing commissioner Sonny Barrios admitted the country’s governing body for basketball already submitted to his office on Friday a formal request regarding the matter. The league’s Board of Governors is holding its planning session in Hong Kong from September 1 to 3. “There are a lot of questions that need to be asked," Barrios pointed out. “There are some governors who are not in favor of this, but there are some who are in favor." In the letter signed no less by SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan, the cage body asked for the services of two-time MVP James Yap of Derby Ace, Asi Taulava of Coca-Cola and Talk ‘N Text’s Kelly Williams. Taulava already reinforced the RP-Smart Gilas team in the recent Stankovic Cup, where the Nationals finished fourth and qualified for the 2011 FIBA-Asia Men’s basketball championship in Lebanon. But Barrios said loaning three players with a lot of fan base for flag and country are again expected to create a gap in the league’s attendance based on the PBA’s past experiences. The commissioner likewise noted the impact it would create on the campaign of the ball clubs likely to be affected. Both the PBA and the BAP-SBP (predecessor of SBP) created a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the pro league to loan its best players in the formation of national teams competing in major international tournaments such as the Asian Games and FIBA-Asia meets. But the MOA has since expired in 2009. “That’s why the PBA went back to a three-conference because we no longer have an obligation (in the formation of the national team)," said Barrios. The PBA’s last involvement in the formation of the national team came in 2009 during the FIBA-Asia qualifying meet for the 2010 World Championships. The squad, mentored by Yeng Guiao, made the quarterfinals but finished at eighth place. – JVP, GMANews.TV