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| Former national team coach Robert Jaworski thinks college basketball stars can become vital cogs in Gilas if they will pledge full commitment. Ivan Saldajeno |
By Ivan Saldajeno
Former senator and national team coach Robert Jaworski lauded collegiate stars Kiefer Ravena, Jeron Teng, Mac Belo, C.J. Perez, and Troy Rosario for showcasing their talent during the All In Basketball Challenge at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
"They have the talent," the former UE King Warrior described the five, who play for Ateneo, La Salle, FEU, San Sebastian, and NU respectively.
But speaking to a group of reporters on who among Perez, SEA Games gold medalists Ravena and Belo, and ex-RP Youth Team standouts Teng and Rosario will lead the way for Gilas Pilipinas in the future, the mentor of the first all-pro national team that won a silver medal in the 1990 Asian Games stressed another important point for national team success.
"They just have to try to commit to achieving their dream," Jaworski, who also starred for the national team and the PBA for Toyota and Ginebra as a player, told the press.
He also said that he is open to the idea of having amateurs team up with the PBA players for the national team.
Jaworski said, "If there's a great talent in college that can help, why not incorporate with him?... Adjustment lang here and there."
Asked further about Gilas and even in the national teams of the other sport disciplines, he said that building the future teams "should be a national effort."
Jaworski also mentioned the importance of the grassroots programs in making the next national squads.
He specified, "It has to start from the Department of Education, which should define what are the initiatives in school sports from kindergarten onward."
But for the teams to succeed, he said that it "will only come beyond money and pain. It has to reach our character."
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