Vastly-Experienced Chris Daleo Interested in Gilas Coaching Job

Gilas Pilipinas is now in a process of searching for its new head coach who will train the team on a full-time basis. It means that we shouldn't be expecting someone who also has other commitments to other teams in other leagues both here and abroad because one of the purposes of hiring a full-time head coach for the national team is to train the team in time for the 2023 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) World Cup in which the Philippines will be one of the three host countries. In other words, guys like Tim Cone, Yeng Guiao, and other coaches both from the professional and amateur ranks will not be included in the shortlist.

While the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas (SBP) has been mum as to who are the interested individuals who are interested in taking the daunting task of guiding this youth-injected national team to a whole new level, a familiar figure has thrown himself into the picture as he expressed his interest to become the next head coach of Gilas Pilipinas. His name is Chris Daleo. Incidentally, Daleo is the head coach of the Thai national team who Gilas was supposed to in a postponed home game last month as part of the first window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers. And, Daleo was also the coach of the Thais when they experienced the wrath of Gilas Pilipinas during the gold medal match of last year's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games here in Manila and according to Daleo, one of the reasons why he's interested in taking the top coaching job at Gilas is because of the intense passion that the Filipinos have for the game of basketball. 

Aside from coaching Thailand's national team, Chris Daleo has a 30-year coaching career that included stints in the National Association of International Athletics (NAIA), the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and yes, he had stints in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and in the NBA G-League. In other words, he is an experienced coach.

If he gets the top job at Gilas Pilipinas, Chris Daleo said that his stint with Gilas Pilipinas will be all about winning. After all, he hasn't had a losing season. 

Right now, the SBP said that they already have a "handful" of potential candidates in mind and surprisingly, the current interim coach of the national team, Mark Dickel is aspiring to be included in the shortlist of candidates for the position of the full-time head coach of Gilas Pilipinas. While Dickel did an amazing job in preparing the team for the road game against Indonesia despite not having enough time to prepare and with the number of players begging off from the training pool, Dickel is also serving as the team consultant of the TNT KaTropa in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

On the other side, Chris Daleo made the revelation that he is not currently bound to a contract with the Thai national team because it's usually agreed by both sides on an event-by-even basis. If that's the case, then he could be one of the candidates to take over as a full-time head coach of the Filipino national team. That, if Daleo goes on to apply. 

Photo is from the Twitter account of Chris Daleo