The Kraken's Absence: Why It Makes Sense?

When the SBP released the names of the players who will be included in the training pool of Gilas Pilipinas for the upcoming FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers, one question was lingering in every Pinoy basketball fan's mind: why is June Mar Fajardo not included in the pool?

According to the SBP, the Kraken's non-inclusion in the 24-man team- mostly made up of the nation's amateur stars, is a way of giving June Mar Fajardo an extended break from national duty. After all, he has been answering the call of the flag and has delivered big performances all throughout his stint. And he will continue to do so in the future as the SBP also expressed that arguably one of the greatest big men in the history of the Philippines, will be included in the future pools. 

While JMF's services will be missed, we all have to remember that February's games against Thailand, Korea and Indonesia will only be the first round of games so Gilas Pilipinas can use the said games to give some of the young guns the exposure and the experience that will help them as they make progress in their respective basketball careers. More importantly, Marc Pingris, someone who is surprisingly included in the said line-up, can use the opportunity to unleash once again the "puso" that has been associated with him in the past. Who knows? He's still one of the cores of the national team and there's no denying the fact that he can still contribute to the national cause.

And while the team won't get the usual monstrous numbers that they usually get from June Mar Fajardo, just take a look at some of the names that are included:

- Kiefer Ravena

- Thirdy Ravena

- Isaac Go

- Ray Parks

- Kobe Paras

The names above? Those are the future of Philippine basketball and by virtue, they can take over the national duty from  Fajardo et al reaches the climax of their respective careers. So why not give the kids the chance to show our Asian foes that they can compete too? And some of them have already played in the international scene in the first place so it's only a matter of giving Isaac Go and company more exposure that they can use once they enter the next stage of their career.

Another reason why JMF's non-inclusion in the February pool makes sense? 

We don't want to risk June Mar Fajardo getting injured early in the first round of the said qualifying tournament, right? 

Sure, June Mar Fajardo can put up MVP numbers on a nightly basis. There's no question about that. However, there's always the risk of getting injured whether it's in the PBA or a FIBA game so it's only right that he is given an extended break from national duty. After all, the February pool has big men like Japeth Aguilar, Christian Standhardinger, Troy Rosario, and Poy Erram to hold down the fort. They may not be June Mar Fajardo but they are also among the PBA's best big men of today. Japeth Aguilar, for one,  just nabbed his first Finals MVP award after leading the Barangay Ginerba Gin Kings to another Governors' Cup title earlier this month.  And Standhardinger? He just won the Best Player of the Conference plum in the season-ending Governors' Cup. In other words, the pool has enough big men to bang bodies when the February games come around. 

In other words, we'll see June Mar Fajardo don the national colors in the future. And Gilas Pilipinas will need more from the Kraken in the latter rounds of the qualifying tournament. They'll need him rested. They'll need him healthy. And most importantly, they will need him at his best, dominant self. 

Photo from smartgilasbasketball.com