The STANDS - An INQUIRER Sports Newsletter

 

July 12, 2024

It was quite the performance for Gilas Pilipinas during the Olympic Qualifying Tournament. (FIBA PHOTO)

Hey there sports fan, Before we dive into one national team, let's check up on the problems brewing beneath the surface of another. It isn't quite the controversy just yet, but already, there were some grumblings heard when Chery Tiggo kept standouts Eya Laure and Jennifer Nierva from practicing with Alas Pilipinas, the country's women's volleyball national team. Talks are being held to clarify the situation, but there is a hanging sanction that teams face if they withhold players from the national program. If you ask me, it's a sanction worth studying as far as other professional sports are concerned.  For now, Gilas Pilipinas is encountering no problems of that nature. The 12 players Tim Cone picked for the squad are still committed to the program and Cone has said he is committed to those 12. His only worry now is getting the injured standouts back to full health. Gilas was undermanned when it participated in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Latvia recently, but even that did not stop the national squad from shocking the world No. 5 hosts—and the world, for that matter. That win was certainly a great headline to wake up to (or stay awake for). The Philippines even moved to within two wins of ending a long string of missed Olympic stints in basketball when it snatched triumph in defeat, advancing to the semifinals of the OQT despite losing a close decision to Georgia. Gilas eventually lost to Brazil in the semifinals, but the Nationals had made their mark in the tournament by proving that Philippine basketball is truly world-class.

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Former La Salle standout Thea Gagate, to no one's surprise, was the No. 1 pick of the inaugural PVL Rookie Draft. (MARLO CUETO)

Meanwhile... …It's not like ZUS Coffee said anything differently. The team had been vocal about their choice for the No. 1 overall pick in the PVL Draft and made good on that by selecting Thea Gagate. The middle blocker out of La Salle's vaunted volleyball program, however, admitted that she still had butterflies in her stomach on selection night. She later voiced her excitement over being given the chance to breathe life into a club that was stranded at the bottom last season. For more volleyball stories and our coverage of the Rookie Draft, check out this menu. Speaking of volleyball, do you know how many of the 12 teams currently in the PVL have won championships already? Answer is at the end of this email. What we're up to next: We will begin our coverage of Team Philippines to the Paris Olympics over the weekend so watch out for that. There's also the opening of the PVL Reinforced Conference to look forward to. We've had dispatches from the PBA Rookie Combine and you can follow our coverage of the PBA rookie draft across all our platforms. Number of the Week: 1972 Last time the Philippines competed in the basketball event of the Olympics.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “It’s, kinda like a ‘now we know’ moment—[that] now, we know we can compete.” —Tim Cone, Gilas Pilipinas coach, on the natiomal team's performance during the Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

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Three. That's the answer to the trivia question above. Think you can ace the rest of our weekly sports quiz? head over to our Viber community and try the test out! Buy the Inquirer at newsstands, subscribe to our digital edition, Inquirer Plus, visit our online site and follow us on socials (Twitter: @inquirersports; FB: facebook.com/inquirersports) for more stories and updates—or to send us questions or suggestions of stories you'd want to read. See you next Friday! Francis Francis T. J. Ochoa is the Sports Editor of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. For comments, suggestions and questions, hit him up on Twitter (@ftjochoaINQ).