By Ivan Saldajeno
MANILA--A report on Sunday night surfaced that SBP president Manny Pangilinan wants Gilas Pilipinas to pull out of the inaugural Olympic qualifying tournament next year.
According to Interaksyon's Mikkel Bolante, Pangilinan's view is that Gilas "should opt out of it."
Bolante also quoted Pangilinan as saying that Gilas should now set its sight in the 2019 FIBA World Cup, where a qualification format similar to that of the FIFA World Cup will be implemented.
Some fans raised concern about the schedule of the FIBA Olympic qualifiers as the tournament set for July 5 to 10 will coincide with the PBA Governors' Cup.
By virtue of making the FIBA Asia Championship semifinals, Gilas booked a slot in the said wildcard playoffs. The team, however, missed out on an outright ticket to Brazil as it lost to China in the final on Saturday night.
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